I 


i 


HISTORY 


OF 


THE   ROMAN   PEOPLE 


CHARLES  SEIGNOBOS 

f  " 

OF    THE    UNIVERSITY    OF    PARIS 


TRANSLATION  EDITED  BY 

WILLIAM    FAIRLEY.    Ph.D. 


NEW  YORK 

HENRY  HOLT  AND  COMPANY 
1912 


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Copyright,  1902, 

BY 

HENRY  HOLT  &  CO. 


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EDITOR'S   PREFACE. 

The  history  here  presented  has  preeminently  the  charm, 
so  characteristic  of  French  historical  writing,  of  graphic  pres- 
entation. This  quality  in  it  will  be  found  not  the  least 
among  its  reasons  for  claiming  a  place  among  the  many 
Roman  histories  now  in  the  field. 

The  task  of  the  American  editor  has  been  a  simple  one. 
His  aim  has  been  to  fit  the  French  work  to  American  class- 
room use.  The  judgments  of  M.  Seignobos  have  not  been 
altered  in  the  text.  A  divergent  view  has  occasionally  been 
alluded  to  in  a  note  by  the  editor. 

Some  slight  additions  have  been  made.  These,  in  the 
body  of  the  text  are  indicated  by  an  asterisk,  and  in  the  notes 
by  brackets.  The  original  work  was  carried  only  through 
the  reign  of  Theodosius  I.  As  the  requirements  of  our 
American  schools  call  for  a  treatment  of  the  period  from  that 
time  to  Charlemagne,  such  an  addition  will  be  found  in  Chap- 
ters XXVIII-XXXII.  In  these  chapters  there  is  no  claim  to 
originality,  even  of  presentation,  owing  to  the  extreme  con- 
ciseness necessary. 

Some  omissions  have  been  made  from  the  French  work. 
The  wealth  of  anecdotal  material  was  very  great,  and  some 
of  this  has  been  dropped  ;  not  a  little  of  the  detail  of  military 
movements  has  also  been  left  out. 

To  each  chapter  has  been  appended  a  short  list  of  sources 
in  English,  so  far  as  such  are  available,  and  of  suggestions 
for  parallel  reading.     In  drawing  up  the  latter  regard  has 


313770 


IV  EDITOR'S  PREFACE. 

been  had  to  the  topical  method  of  study,  so  that  where  mem- 
bers of  a  class  are  using  different  books,  it  will  be  easy  from 
these  lists  to  find  the  same  topic  in  the  various  books  in  com- 
mon use.  The  best  known  treatises  and  text-books  have  been 
indicated  simply  by  authors'  names.  In  Appendix  F  will  be 
found  a  complete  list  of  books  referred  to. 

Legends  and  anecdotes  are  printed  in  small  type. 

W.  F. 

New  York,  June,  1902. 


CONTENTS 

PAGE 

List  of  Maps  and  Plans vii 

List  of  Illustrations viii 

Chap.  I.  The  Ancient  Populations  of  Italy i 

II.  The  Kings  of  Rome 15 

III.  The  Abolition  of  Royalty 27 

IV.  The  Roman  Religion 36 

V.  The  Establishment  of  Legal  Equality 45 

VI.  The  Conquest  of  Italy 56 

VII.  The  Roman  Army 74 

Vm.  The  First  Punic  War 86 

IX.    The  Second  Punic  War 99 

X.  Conquest  of  the  Basin  of  the  Mediterranean 120 

XI.  The  Results  of  Conquest 144 

XII.  Social  and  Political  Transformation 160 

XIII.  The  Gracchi  177 

XIV.  The  Period  of  Marius  and  Sulla 189 

XV.  PoMPEY , 214 

XVI.    Ci^SAR  AND  THE  CONQUEST  OF  THE  GaULS 230 

XVII.  End  of  the  Republic 244 

XVIII.  The  Empire 263 

XIX.  Literature,  the  Arts,  and  Trade 280 

XX.  Emperors  of  the  Augustan  Family 289 

XXI.  The  Flavians 310 

XXII.  The  Antonines 326 

XXIII.  Arts,  Letters,  and  Social  Conditions 345 

XXIV.  Christianity 362 

XXV.  The  Decline  of  the  Empire ,  373 

XXVI.  Constantine  and  the  Christian  Religion 393 

XXVII.  The  Downfall  of  Paganism 410 

XXVIII.  The  Barbarian  Invasion 421 

XXIX.  The  Teutonic  Kingdoms 440 

XXX.  The  Eastern  Empire 449 

XXXI.  Christianity  and  Mohammedanism 458 

XXXII.  Charles  the  Great  and  the  New  Empire 476 

V 


VI  CONTENTS. 

PAG8 

Appendix  A.  The  Roman  Assemblies 487 

B.  Roman  Provinces 491 

C.  Family  of  Augustus *,....  493 

D.  List  of  Emperors 494 

E.  Chronological  Table 497 

F.  List  of  Books 508 

INDEX .  515 


LIST   OF   MAPS. 

COLORED   MAPS. 

PAGB 

Italy  before  the  Roman  Conquest 9 

Colonies  and  Military  Roads  of  Italy 139 

The  Growth  of  the  Roman  Dominion  to  the  Time  of  the 

Gracchi 179 

Italy  before  the  Social  War 195 

The  Growth  of  the  Roman  Dominion   from  the  Gracchi 

to  the  Death  of  Augustus 265 

The  Roman  Empire  at  its  Greatest  Extent 334 

The  Roman  Empire  of  the  Fourth  Century 404 

Europe  in  the  Reign  of  Theodoric 443 

Europe  in  the  Time  of  Charles  the  Great 477 


MAPS   AND    PLANS   IN   TEXT. 

The  City  of  the  Early  Kings  ;  the  Three  Tribes 16 

The  City  of  the  Later  Kings 28 

Roman  Dominion  at  End  of  Royal  Period 29 

Battle  of  Lake  Trasimine 106 

Battle  of  Cann^ 108 

Hannibal's  Route  in  Spain 117 

"  "         "Italy 118 

Rome  in  the  Time  of  the  Empire 287 

Harbors  of  Claudius  and  Trajan  at  Ostia 301 

Roman  Britain 378 

vii 


LIST   OF  ILLUSTRATIONS. 


PAGE 

Interior  of  Sancta  Sophia Frontispiece 

Etruscan  Sarcophagus 1 1 

Cinerary  Urns 13 

Bronze  Wolf  of  the  Capitol  17 

Cloaca  Maxima 25 

Curule  Chair  and  Fasces 30 

A  Sacrifice 39 

As,  Half  Size 50 

A  Samnite  Warrior 65 

Tomb  of  L.  Cornelius  Scipio   Barbatus 68 

Legion  in  Order  of  Battle 78 

Encampment 80 

A  Trireme , 89 

Roman  Soldiers  Using   ''Crow"  in  Boarding 90 

The  Column  of  Duilius 91 

BiREME  (full  page) 94 

Carthaginian  Helmet  Found  at  Cann^ 109 

PuBLius  Cornelius  Scipio  Africanus 115 

Soldiers  Storming  a  .Town 119 

Ballista 132 

Dying  Gaul 141 

Female  Dress 146 

Altar 149 

A  Roman  Play 152 

Animal  Fight  in  the  Circus 155 

A  Slave  Scourged 164 

A  Writer  and  his  Implements 165 

Citizens  Registering 168 

The  Suovetaurilia 169 

Voting 172 

Milestone  of  Popilius  L^enas 183 

viii 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS.  IX 

PACK 

Orator  on  Rostra  and  Judge. , 185 

Roman  Milestone 186 

Marius 193 

Sulla 200 

Coin  of  Mithridates 201 

POMPEY 215 

Gladiators 217 

Greek  Pirate  Vessel 223 

Cicero 226 

The  Tullianum 227 

Julius  C^sar 230 

Gallic  Prisoners  and  Trophy 236 

C/ESAR  as  Perpetual  Dictator 249 

Tomb  of  Cestius , 251 

Augustus ; 264 

Pr^torians 269 

Common  Soldier 27 1 

Arches  from  Theatre  of  Marcellus 283 

Roman  Column  and  Entablature 284 

The  Pantheon 285 

Coin  of  Augustus 286 

Tiberius 290 

Roman  Boots  (Calig/e) 295 

Caligula  and  Drusilla 297 

Claudius 299 

Coin  of  Nero 303 

Vespasian 314 

Golden  Gateway  of  the  The  Temple  at  Jerusalem 316 

Golden  Candlestick  of  the  Jews,  from  Arch  of  Titus 319 

The  Flavian  Amphitheatre  or  Colosseum 321 

Arch  of  Titus * 322 

The  Decebalus  Submitting 328 

Burning  a  Town . .    , .  329 

The  Fortress  of  Troesmis  on  the  Danube 332 

Antoninus 336 

Marcus  Aurelius 338 

Parthians  Rendering  Homage  to  Marcus  Aurelius 339 

Mo.  Aurelius  Antoninus,  Bronze  Medallion 344 

Column  of  Trajan 346 

Mausoleum  of  Hadrian 347 


X  LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS. 

PAGE 

Ruin  of  Roman  Aqueduct 348 

Aqueduct  at  NTmes 349 

House  of  Pansa,  in  Pompeii 35 1 

Ground-plan  of  House  of  Pansa  ...    352 

School  Punishment 356 

Christian  Lamp 366 

Catacomb  of  St.  Calixtus 371 

Painting  from  Cemetery  of  SS.  Nereus  and  Achilleus 372 

Commodus  as  Hercules 374 

Coin  of  Pertinax . .  376 

Caracalla 380 

Alexander  Severus 383 

vSapor's  Capture  of  Valerian 388 

Chariot  of  Prefect  of  the  City 391 

constantine 396 

Arch  of  Constantine 398 

The  Labarum 399 

Coin  of  Constantine 405 

Julian 412 

Theodosius 417 

Roman  Consul  of  Age  of  Honorius 422 

Galla  Placidia  and  Valentinian  III 425 

Porta  Nigra  at  Treves 428 

Bronze  Lamp  and  Implements 431 

Consular  Costume  of  Later  Empire 437 

Church  of  S.  Apollinare  in  Classe 445 

Tomb  of  Theodoric 446 

Justinian  and  his  Court ._ 451 

A  Page  from  the  Pandects 455 

Interior  of  Church  of  S.  Apollinare  Nuovo,  Ravenna  . . .  461 

Seal  of  Mohammed 469 

Charlemagne 479 

The  Cathedral  at  Aachen 480 

Monogram  of  Charlemagne 482 

St.  Matthew,  from  Evangeliarium  of  Charlemagne 484 


HISTORY  OF  THE  ROMAN  PEOPLE. 

CHAPTER    I. 
THE   ANCIENT   POPULATIONS  OF   ITALY. 

Italy. — Italy  ^  is  a  broad  peninsula  which  stretches  out 
into  the  Mediterranean  Sea,  beginning  at  the  eastern  limit 
of  the  French  coast  and  extending  in  the  direction  of  Greece. 
The  two  coast-lines  are  almost  parallel,  the  width  of  the 
peninsula  being  almost  uniform  throughout,  until  it  divides 
into  two  parts;  it  has  thus  very  much  the  form  of  a  boot, 
with  the  heel  towards  Greece  and  the  toe  touching  Sicily. 

Throughout  its  whole  extent  the  interior  of  Italy  consists 
of  a  massive  range  of  gray,  rocky  mountains,  the  Apennines, 
which  reach  at  their  highest  point  an  elevation  of  9500  feet. 
Their  sharpest  decline  is  towards  the  east,  where  they  descend 
to  the  Adriatic  Sea.  This  side  shows  only  short,  narrow 
valleys  separated  by  precipitous  walls  of  rock.  On  the 
west,  towards  the  Tyrrhenian  Sea,  the  mountains  sink  into  a 
country  of  hills  and  fertile  plains.  The  sea  came  originally 
to  the  foot  of  the  mountains  and  formed  gulfs  there,  but  the 
volcanoes  have  filled  the  gulfs  with  lava,  slag,  and  ashes,  thus 

1  The  name  Italy  did  not  mean  the  same  to  the  ancient  Romans  that 
it  does  to  us.  We  include  under  this  name  all  the  territory  south  of 
the  Alps  ;  not  simply  the  peninsula,  but  the  valleys  of  the  Po  and  the 
Adige  and  the  coast  of  the  Gulf  of  Genoa.  Up  to  the  first  century  the 
ancients  called  the  peninsula  alone  Italy.  The  name  was  gradually 
extended  after  that  time. 


2  '    .  ,  V  tf^^>  ROMAN  PEOPLE. 

forihin^  u^V^and/  *  Tji.the  westward,  therefore,  flow  all  the 
chief  rivers;  and  there  lie'  the  fertile  sections  (Tuscany, 
Latium,  Campania)  where  were  developed  the  great  peoples 
of  ancient  Italy. 

On  the  south  the  mountains  fall  abruptly.  The  two 
points  in  which  Italy  terminates,  called  by  the  ancients  the 
two  "horns,"  are  not  part  of  the  Apennines.  The  point 
which  turns  toward  Greece,  to  the  east  of  Tarentum,  is  a  low 
plateau,  gray  and  barren,  dusty  and  dreary,  scorched  by  the 
sun.  The  point  which  turns  towards  Sicily  is  formed  by  two 
solid  masses  of  granite.  The  first,  the  Sila  range,  separated 
from  the  Apennines  by  a  broad  plain,  is  covered  with  forests 
throughout  its  vast  extent;  attaining  at  its  highest  point  an 
elevation  of  over  6000  feet,  it  descends  on  three  sides  with 
the  abruptness  of  a  wall,  through  whose  narrow  gorges  rush- 
ing torrents  force  their  way.  This  region  has  always  been 
the  resort  of  brigands  (Calabria).  The  other  range,  joined 
to  Sila  by  a  narrow  ridge  of  low,  rounded  hills,  is  a  plateau 
commanded  by  peaks  6500  feet  in  height.  The  forests 
which  cover  it  furnished  the  ancients  with  timber  for  houses 
and  ships,  and  a  famous  brand  of  pitch. 

Climate. — Italy  has  a  mild,  damp  climate.  The  winter 
is  short.  For  some  weeks  the  Aquilo  blows,  a  north  wind, 
cold  and  clear,  which  drives  away  the  mists.  But  it  rarely 
freezes  in  the  plains,  and  snow  is  seen  only  on  the  moun- 
tains. February  brings  a  mild,  soft  wind  from  the  west, 
called  by  the  ancients  Favonius,  the  favorable.  Then  the 
swallows  return,  the  almond-trees  blossom,  and  spring  is 
begun. 

Spring,  too,  is  a  short  season,  at  least  in  southern  Italy. 
With  May  comes  a  dry  and  burning  summer  which  scorches 
all  vegetation  that  is  not  watered  constantly.  As  in  Greece, 
this  drought  lasts  almost  four  months.  After  the  end  of 
March  in  the  northern  and  central  plains  the  prevailing  wind 
is  from  the  south  (Auster,  the  burning).  It  brings  an 
oppressive  heat,  a  suffocating  vapor  which  affects  the  trans- 


ANCIENT  ITALY.  3 

parency  of  the  air,  and  at  times  brings  violent  storms  with 
thunder  and  hail. 

This  trying  and  unwholesome  summer  lasts  until  Septem- 
ber. Then  autumn  begins,  the  season  of  heavy  rains,  lasting 
until  November.  The  precipitation  is  greater  in  Italy  in 
these  three  months  than  in  a  whole  year  in  Germany. 

Streams. — This  water,  falling  in  torrents  on  the  steep 
mountain-sides,  is  swiftly  borne  down  by  rushing  torrents, 
loaded  with  earth  and  pebbles  which  they  either  deposit  as 
they  go  or  carry  along  to  the  sea.  During  the  dry  summer 
season  these  torrents  are  reduced  to  a  narrow  stream  of  water 
running  through  a  wide  bed  of  dry  stones. 

The  calcareous  Apennine  rocks,  full  as  they  are  of  crevices 
and  gaps,  do  not  throw  off  all  the  rain  and  melted  snow  on 
the  surface,  but  receive  it  into  the  interior  of  the  mountain, 
whence  it  issues  in  great  springs  at  the  base.  The  waters 
thus  stored  finally  emerge  to  feed  the  rivers  during  the  dry 
season. 

Coast. — The  coasts  of  Italy  are  straight,  only  slightly 
indented  and  almost  without  natural  harbors,  while  the 
debris  brought  by  the  mountain  torrents  forms  sand-bars 
across  the  mouths  of  the  rivers. 

On  the  Adriatic  the  shore  is  lined  with  lagoons  and 
sand-bars  which  forbid  the  approach  of  ships.  The  sea 
is  disturbed,  especially  in  winter,  by  violent  northerly 
storms. 

On  the  Ionian  Sea  there  was  really  only  one  good  harbor, 
Tarentum,  and  this  is  to-day  blocked  with  sand. 

The  western  coast  is  more  favorable,  although  natural 
harbors  are  infrequent.  Only  in  two  places,  in  Tuscany  and 
in  the  Bay  of  Naples,  do  we  find  islands,  and  deep  water 
near  the  shore.      Here  the  ancients  had  their  chief  ports. 

Italy  is  not,  like  Greece,  a  country  fitted  by  nature  for 
maritime  enterprise.  The  ancient  peoples  of  Italy  were  not 
sailors;  they  were  farmers  in  the  lowlands,  shepherds  in  the 
mountains. 


4  THE  ROMAN  PEOPLE, 

Umbrians. — In  the  heart  of  the  Apennines,  surrounded 
by  the  highest  peaks,  lies  a  country  of  narrow  valleys  and 
low  mountains,  crossed  by  a  wide  fertile  valley  which  falls 
toward  the  western  coast. 

Here  dwelt  the  Umbrians,  a  race  of  shepherds  and  tillers 
of  the  soil.  They  lived  in,  small  fortified  towns  built  on  the 
hills  which  guard  the  valleys.  It  is  said  that  they  were  once 
a  great  people  settled  throughout  the  whole  of  Tuscany  and 
the  Po  valley,  and  that  they  were  driven  back  into  the 
mountains  by  new  peoples.  They  did  not  form  a  united 
nation,  each  city  being  a  small  state  in  itself.  They  all, 
however,  spoke  the  same  language,  resembling  Latin  some- 
what as  French  resembles  Italian. 

Sabines. — South  of  Umbria  rises  a  huge  mass  of  wild 
mountains  surrounded  on  all  sides  by  rocky  walls  which 
form  a  sort  of  natural  fortress.  These  are  to-day  called  the 
Abruzzi,  now  a  region  of  brigands.  Farther  to  the  westward 
extends  a  long  range  of  lower  and  more  sloping  mountains, 
intersected  by  the  valley  of  the  Anio.  These  are  the  Sabin . 
Mountains. 

This  was  formerly  the  country  of  the  Sabines,  a  race  of 
warlike  peasants,  with  the  reputation  of  sober,  honest,  hard- 
working farmers.  They  tilled  with  the  spade  the  stony  and 
arid  soil  of  their  mountains,  and  dwelt  in  huts  grouped  in 
open  villages.     Their  language  was  much  like  Latin. 

Sabellians. — From  this  Sabine  country  are  said  to  have 
issued  most  of  the  mountain  peoples  of  Italy.  They  were 
called  Sabellians  (the  same  name  as  Sabines),  and  their  origin 
is  explained  only  by  legends. 

We  are  told  that  the  Sabines,  in  times  of  misfortune,  believ- 
ing the  gods  angry,  sought  to  appease  them  by  a  grand  sacrifice. 
They  vowed,  or  rather  consecrated,  to  their  god  all  that  should 
be  born  to  them  within  the  ensuing  year.  This  was  called  a 
Sacred  Spring.  All  children  born  within  the  year  belonged  to 
the  god.  As  soon  as  they  were  full  grown  they  went  away  to 
settle  wherever  they  might.  Thus  several  bands  broke  away 
from  the  Sabines  at  different  intervals.     Each  had  followed  a 


ANCIENT  ITALY.  5 

sacred  animal,  a  wolf,  a  bull,  or  a  woodpecker,  as  a  messenger 
from  the  god ;  where  the  animal  rested,  there  the  band  estab- 
lished itself  and  became  a  people. 

Many  peoples  derived  their  names  from  this  custom :  the 
Picentines,  the  people  of  the  woodpecker  (pi'cus);  the 
Hirpini,  or  people  of  the  wolf  {hirpus).  Others  took  the 
name  of  a  god,  such  as  the  Marsi  and  the  Vestini. 

These  Sabellians  had  peopled  all  the  mountains  of  Italy, 
They  held  the  great  central  ranges.  They  occupied  the 
Adriatic  slope.  They  inhabited  the  mountain  chains  border- 
ing the-  plains  (the  Hernici  and  /Equi),  Finally  they  even 
came  down  into  the  plains  and  settled  among  the  hills  along 
the  coast  (Volsci). 

Isolated  as  they  were  in  their  mountain  homes,  they 
remained  uncivilized  and  quarrelsome,  and  devoted  them- 
selves to  raising  cattle  and  cultivating  their  bits  of  land. 
Almost  without  exception  they  lived  in  the  country  and  built 
no  cities.  On  some  of  the  steep  mountain-tops  they  built 
fortresses  where  in  time  of  war  they  sheltered  their  families 
and  their  herds.  They  grouped  themselves  in  small  clans 
under  chiefs  who  led  them  in  war,  but  each  people  formed 
an  independent  state.  y 

Samnites. — Of  all  the  Sabellians,  the  most  powerful  were 
the  Samnites.  These  were  a  confederation  of  four  peoples 
established  in  the  heart  of  the  Apennines,  in  a  country  of 
rugged  barren  mountains,  difficult  of  access,  and  broken  by 
narrow  gorges — a  land  whose  pastures  were  better  adapted 
to  sheep  and  goats  than  to  cattle. 

The  Samnites  became  a  fighting  people.  The  young 
men,  too  numerous  to  make  a  living  in  this  poor  country, 
went  as  soldiers  into  the  service  of  the  rich  cities  of  the 
plains.  They  came  home  with  rich  armor,  silver  shields, 
gold  collars,  and  jewels. 

Towards  the  sixth  century  b.c.  many  bands  of  Samnite 
soldiers  settled  in  these  foreign  districts,  overcame  the 
inhabitants,  and  formed  new  peoples,  the  Lucanians,  Brut- 


6  THE  ROMAN  PEOPLE, 

tians,  and  Campanians.^  For  a  hundred  years  these  moun- 
taineers controlled  southern  Italy. 

Magna  Graecia. — Southern  Italy,  composed  of  low  plains 
and  hills,  turns  towards  Greece.  From  the  farthest  point 
one  may,  on  a  clear  day,  see  the  mountains  on  the  islands 
of  the  opposite  coast. 

The  former  inhabitants  of  this  country,  the  lapygians, 
probably  came  from  the  other  side  of  the  Adriatic,  from  the 
region  which  the  ancients  called  Illyria.  Their  language 
was  similar  to  the  lUyrian. 

Then  at  the  end  of  the  eighth  century  B.C.  Greek  colonies 
arrived.  They  settled  in  the  most  fertile  plains  and  on  the 
neighboring  coasts  wherever  ships  might  land.  They  built 
fortified  towns;  each  formed  a  "  city  "  {civitas,  n6\iZ),  that 
is  to  say,  an  independent  state  governing  itself  and  making 
war  on  the  others.  There  was  the  same  life  as  in  Greece, 
but  richer;  each  city  had  a  large  extent  of  territory  covered 
with  fields  of  grain,  pastures  for  horses,  vineyards  and 
olive-trees. 

The  most  powerful  of  these  cities  were  Sybaris,  famous 
for  its  luxury;  Croton,  the  warlike  city  which  destroyed 
Sybaris;  and  Tarentum,  the  great  port  of  southern  Italy. 

These  Greeks  had  occupied  only  a  part  of  the  country. 
The  former  inhabitants  remained  side  by  side  with  them,  but 
were  neither  so  rich,  so  powerful,  nor  so  highly  civilized. 
Slowly  they,  adopted  the  language  and  customs  of  the 
Greeks.  All  southern  Italy  became  a  Greek  country,  known 
as  Magna  Gr^cia. 

Greeks  of  Campania.- -On  the  other  side  of  Italy,  border- 
ing on  the  Tyrrhenian  Sea,  were  other  Greek  colonies,  of  very 
ancient  origin. 

The  oldest  of  these,  Cumae,  was  built  on  a  volcanic  rock, 
328  feet  in  height,  descending  sharply  on  three  sides  to  the 
sea.     Ships  anchored  below  in  the  Bay  of  Baiae.      To   the 

^  The  Romans  called  this  new  people  by  the  same  name  as  the  inhabi- 
tants of  the  country — Oscans. 


ANCIENT  ITALY.  7 

southward  lay  Campania,  a  volcanic  plain,  celebrated  for  its 
fertility.  The  Cumaean  merchants  sold  grain  to  the  Greeks, 
and  Greek  vases  to  the  inhabitants  of  the  country.  The 
Cumaean  sailors  became  famous  pirates;  their  ships  of  war 
fought  with  the  Etruscans  and  vanquished  the  Carthaginians. 

Farther  south,  around  the  gulf  where  the  best  ports  lie, 
Cumae  sent  colonists  who  founded  new  Greek  cities.  Naples 
(Neapolis,  new  city)  was  one  of  these. 

The  Greeks  in  Campania  were  too  few  to  transform  the 
population.  The  old  inhabitants,  the  Ausonians  and  Opici, 
settled  in  small  inland  cities,  retained  their  language  and 
customs  until  the  Etruscans  from  the  north,  followed  by  the 
Samnites  from  the  mountains,  came  to  conquer  them  and 
change  their  mode  of  life. 

Etruria. — In  the  northwestern  part  of  the  peninsula  of 
Italy,  between  the  Apennines  and  the  sea,  lies  a  strange 
country.  Sombre  mountains,  old  extinct  volcanoes  scattered 
here  and  there  in  disorder,  surround  small  cultivated  plains. 
The  waters,  unable  to  flow  forth,  gather  in  swamps  on  the 
plains  or  in  deep  lakes  at  the  foot  of  the  mountains.  Some 
of  these  lakes,  the  smallest  and  deepest,  fill  the  bowls  of 
former  craters.     This  is  the  land  the  ancients  called  Etruria.^ 

Formed  in  part  of  debris  from  volcanoes,  this  country  is 
fertile;  plains,  valleys,  and  hills  formerly  yielded  rich  har- 
vests of  grain.  The  mass  of  wooded  mountains  in  the  centre 
formed  the  Ciminian  forest,  gloomy  and  deserted.  It  was 
not  to  be  crossed  without  danger  and,  as  it  cut  Etruria  in 
two,  made  communication  difficult.  The  southern  region, 
which  was  smaller  and  lower,  extended  as  far  as  the 
Tiber. 

The  coast  of  our  day  is  sandy  and  bordered  by  a  great 
plain  dotted  over  with  malarial  marshes  (the  Maremma). 
In  ancient  times  it  was  doubtless  less  obstructed  and 
unwholesome.       Ports    were    there    which    have    now    dis- 

*  Etruria  is  now  called  Tuscany.  Tuscany,  however,  extends  farther 
to  the  north,  beyond  the  Arno. 


8  THE  ROM/tN  PEOPLE. 

appeared;    the  most  important  of  these  were  opposite  the 
island  of  Elba. 

Etruscans. — The  people  that  inhabited  this  country  were 
unlike  any  of  their  neighbors.  The  Greeks  called  them 
Tuscans  or  Tyrrhenians,  the  Romans  Etruscans,  which  is  the 
same  name  differently  pronounced.  They  spoke  a  language 
very  unlike  any  of  the  other  languages  in  Italy.  We  know 
a  few  words  of  it  from  inscriptions,  but  no  scholar  has  yet 
been  able  to  explain  them  in  full. 

The  Etruscans  were  said  to  be  foreigners,  but  it  is  not 
known  just  where  they  came  from.  They  may  have  come 
down  from  the  Rhaetian  Alps  on  the  north  (the  Tyrol). 

In  this  fertile  country  the  Etruscans  grew  rich  and  power- 
ful. Their  cities,  built  on  the  mountains  and  surrounded 
by  walls  of  enormous  stone  blocks,  were  the  largest  in  Italy. 
Each  had  its  own  territory  and  formed  an  independent  state. 
In  these  little  states,  the  nobles  (Jucumons)  held  all  the  lands 
and  wealth.  They  went  to  war  in  costly  armor,  and  exacted 
obedience  from  all  the  other  inhabitants. 

In  several  cities  there  was  a  chief  superior  to  the  other 
nobles,  a  sort  of  king.  He  wore  a  robe  bordered  with 
purple,  sat  on  an  ivory  chair,  and  was  accompanied  by 
lictors  bearing  rods  and  axes. 

The  twelve  leading  Etrurian  cities  celebrated  a  festival  in 
the  sanctuary  of  a  goddess  worshipped  by  all  the  Etruscans. 
The  chiefs  of  all  the  cities  held  an  assembly  there,  but  there 
was  no  political  confederation  and  each  state  made  its  own 
wars  independent  of  the  rest. 

The  Etruscan  seaports  had  ships  which  navigated  the 
whole  coast  as  far  as  Sicily.  Their  commerce  was  chiefly 
with  the  Carthaginians  who  brought  them  the  products  of 
the  East,  ivory,  purple  stuffs,  and  Egyptian  jewels.  One  of 
these  cities,  Caere,  dealt  even  with  the  Greeks.  The  Greeks 
called  it  by  a  Phoenician  name,  Agylla  (the  round),  and 
praised  its  inhabitants,  the  only  Etruscans,  they  said,  who 
were  not  pirates.     The  sailors  of  this  period  were  ordinarily 


ANCIENT  ITALY,  9 

armed;  if  they  had  a  chance  they  pillaged  ships  and  even  the 
villages  on  the  coast,  carrying  away  the  women  and  children 
to  sell  into  slavery,  and  destroying  their  goods.  The 
Etruscan  sailors  waged  a  pirate  war  on  the  Greek  sailors, 
their  rivals.  The  Greek  poets  called  them  the  savage 
Tyrrhenians  and  told  how  the  god  Apollo,  captured  by 
Etruscan  pirates,  had  punished  them  by  changing  them  into 
dolphins. 

There  were  also  Etruscan  cities  in  the  valley  of  the  Po,  on 
the  Adriatic  coast :  Bologna,  Mantua,  Ravenna,  the  date  of 
whose  foundation  is  unknown.  They  were  taken  from  the 
Etruscans  by  the  Gauls. 

The  Etruscans,  advancing  southward,  overcame  the  lesser 
peoples  of  Latium  and  conquered  the  cities  of  Campania, 
where  they  introduced  their  modes  of  living.  The  most 
important  of  these  cities  was  Capua. 

Etruscan  Religion. — The  Etruscans  believed  in  protect- 
ing divinities,  of  whom  we  know  only  the  names,  and  that 
they  were  worshipped  three  together,  one  god  and  two 
goddesses.  They  worshipped  also  the  souls  of  the  dead,  as 
powerful  spirits  that  might  do  them  evil.  Even  human 
victims  were  offered  up  to  them.  This  was  the  beginning 
of  the  famous  custom  of  gladiatorial  contests. 

Many  Etruscan  tombs  have  been  discovered,  some  sur- 
mounted by  a  stone  monument  in  the  form  of  a  dome. 
Within  were  chambers  constructed  as  if  to  be  occupied  by 
the  dead.  The  bodies  were  laid  on  beds  of  state,  and  sur- 
rounded by  furniture,  clothing,  emblems,  jewels — collars, 
rings,  brooches,  and  bracelets — and  great  painted  vases. 
The  walls  were  often  covered  with  pictures,  representing 
chiefly  sports,  the  massacre  of  captives,  and  banquets. 

The  Etruscans  also  believed  in  subterranean  demons  who 
conducted  souls  under  the  earth  to  the  abode  of  the  dead  ; 
Mantus,  king  of  Hades,  is  represented  in  their  pictures  as  a 
winged  demon,  a  crown  on  his  head  and  a  torch  in  his  hand  ; 
Charon,  a  hideous,  ferocious  old  man,  with  long  ears  and 


lo  THE  ROMAN  PEOPLE. 

armed  with  a  heavy  mallet;  other  demons  holding  serpents 
in  their  hands  with  which  they  threaten  their  victims;  and 
the  horrible  Tuculcha,  a  monster  with  an  eagle's  beak,  ass's 
ears,  and  hair  of  serpents. 

Soothsayers. — :The  Etruscan  soothsayers  had  various  ways 
of  predicting  the  future.  When  an  animal  was  brought  to 
be  sacrificed,  they  looked  at  its  entrails,  the  form  and  posi- 
tion of  its  liver,  heart,  and  lungs,  and  from  that  read  the 
future  according  to  certain  rules  of  interpretation. 

They  also  drew  prognostications  from  thunder.  Their 
usual  method,  however,  was  to  watch  the  flight  of  birds. 
The  soothsayer  stood  facing  north,  and  with  his  bent  staff  in 
his  right  hand  traced  an  imaginary  square  in  the  sky.  In 
this  space  he  watched  the  passing  birds.  If  they  passed  to 
the  right,  it  was  a  favorable  sign;  if  to  the  left,  an  unfavor- 
able sign.  An  eagle  was  a  good  sign,  an  owl  a  bad  one. 
The  laws  of  soothsaying  were  finally  drawn  up  in  a  number 
of  sacred  books:  on  the  flight  of  birds,  on  thunder,  on 
ceremonies  appropriate  to  public  acts. 

One  day,  says  an  Etruscan  legend,  while  men  were  laboring 
in  a  field  near  Tarquinii,  there  sprang  up  from  the  ground  a 
tiny  man  with  the  form  of  a  child  and  the  gray  beard  of  a  patri- 
arch. It  was  the  divinity  Tages.  He  began  to  repeat  the 
sacred  rules  of  divination  and  ceremonies.  The  people  gathered 
to  hear  him,  and  the  king  had  his  words  written  down.  Imme- 
diately after  Tages  died. 

The  soothsayers  predicted  that  the  Etruscan  people  would 
endure  for  ten  centuries.  What  they  called  a  century  was 
not  exactly  one  hundred  years,  but  the  length  of  a  human 
life.  The  soothsayers  knew  the  end  of  a  century  by  certain 
signs.  In  the  year  44  b.c.  a  comet  appeared.  An  Etruscan 
soothsayer  declared  in  Rome  that  it  announced  the  end  of 
the  ninth  century  and  the  beginning  of  the  tenth  and  last  of 
the  Etruscan  people. 

Etruscan  Arts. — The  Etruscans  practised  the  principal 
arts  of  the  civilized  peoples  of  their  time;  they  had  learned 
them  from  the  Carthaginians  and  the  Greeks. 


/iNClEhIT  ITALY,  II 

They  extracted  copper  from  the  mountains  of  Etruria,  and 
from  the  mountains  of  the  island  of  Elba  iron  ore  which  they 
ground  to  extract  the  metal.  The  Etruscans  did  most  of 
their  work  in  metal.  Of  jewels,  gold,  and  silver  they  made 
rings,  collars,  and  clasps;  they  also  made  furniture,  mirrors 


ETRUSCAN    SARCOFHAGUS. 


of  polished  bronze  surrounded  with  ornaments,  and  cups 
adorned  with  carving. 

The  famous  Etruscan  vases  ^  were  of  baked  clay,  black, 
with  designs  in  red,  usually  representing  scenes  in  which  the 
gods  or  the  Greek  heroes  figure.  Many  came  from  Greek 
cities,  but  the  Etruscans  had  learned  to  imitate  them. 

The  Etruscan  cities  were  built  regularly  with  walls  of  cut 
stone  and  arched  gates,  broad,  straight  streets,  paved  with 
flags,  and  the  houses  separated  by  gutters.  The  Etruscans 
built  underground  drains  supported  by  arches  to  draw  off 
the  water  from  the  cities  and  from  the  swampy  plains. 

The  Etruscans  had  adopted  the  ancient  Greek  alphabet. 

*  Peoples  of  the  North. — In  the  northern  part  of  Italy  in 
the  great  basin  of  the  Po,  enclosed  between  the  Alps  and 

^  There  are  fiiousands  of  them  in  the  museums,  found  in  the  tombs. 


12  THE  ROMAN  PEOPLE. 

the  Apennines,  were  found  three  other  peoples.  On  the 
west,  in  the  territory  about^the  modern  Genoa,  lived  the 
Ligurians,  a  people  probably  of  non-Aryan  stock,  who  until 
subdued  were  to  make  much  trouble  for  Rome.  On  the 
east  were  the  Veneti,  akin  to  the  Illyrians.  Between  these, 
and  eventually  dominating  that  entire  end  of  Italy,  the  Gauls, 
a  people  of  Celtic  stock,  thrust  themselves  in  the  sixth 
century  b.c.  The  whole  region  became  known  as  Gallia 
Cisalpina.  ^ 

Latium. — From  the  heart  of  the  Apennines  descends  a 
small  swift  stream,  the  Tiber,  which  flows  out  through  a 
narrow  plain.  After  the  rains  it  becomes  very  yellow  with 
the  earth  washed  away  from  the  mountains,  and  overflows 
its  banks. 

South  of  the  Tiber  we  find  Latium,  a  volcanic  country. 
The  Alban  Mount,  a  great  extinct  volcano  commanding  the 
whole  region,  covered  it  in  former  times  with  slag,  ashes, 
and  lava.  This  mass  of  debris  has  mingled  with  the  sand 
and  clay  to  form  a  sort  of  soft  stone,  tufa,  which  is  easily 
cut  and  is  used  for  heavy  construction.  In  this  soft  tufa 
the  rains  and  torrents  have  cut  narrow  gorges,  so  that  the 
country  is  now  a  chaos  of  sharp  hills  separated  by  deep 
ravines. 

It  is  a  very  damp  region,  subject  to  heavy  rains  in  winter 
and  thunder-storms  in  summer.  The  water  does  not  all 
flow  down  in  the  torrents  or  into  the  small  lakes  at  the  foot 
of  the  mountains;  a  part  sinks  into  the  earth.  The  porous 
soil  retains  the  water  like  a  sponge,  until  the  burning  heat 
of  summer  evaporates  it.  The  air,  thus  charged  with 
moisture,  is  heavy  and  unwholesome.  In  the  lower  parts 
of  the  valleys,  especially  near  the  sea,  the  water,  unable  to 
escape,  forms  swamps  which  spread  fevers  far  and  wide. 
This  is  the  famous  malaria  (bad  air).  The  district  has  always 
bred    fever.     The  ancient  inhabitants  in   several    localities 

'  In  Chapter  VI  will  be  found  the  story  of  the  way  in  which  these 
Gauls  came  near  destroying  Rome. 


ANCIENT  ITALY. 


^3 


worshipped  the  goddess  Fever.  ^  <  They  wore  woolen  gar- 
ments, built  fires  in  the  open  air,  and  built  their  houses  close 
together  on  the  heights,  all  of  which  seem  to  have  been  pre- 
cautions against  fever.  The  country,  however,  was  not 
then,  as  it  is  to-day,  an  uninhabitable  desert.  Cultivation 
had  rendered  it  dry  and  wholesome,  while  small  underground 
drains  drew  off  the  water  from  the  interior  of  the  hills. 

The  Latins. — The  inhabitants  of  Latium,  the  Latins, 
were  of  the  same  race  as  the  Sabines  of  the  mountains ;  they 
resembled  them  in  language,  religion,  and  mode  of  life. 
Like  the  mountaineers  they  were  a  race  of  peasants  and 
shepherds.  But,  being  neighbors  of  the  Etruscans  and  the 
Cumaean  Greeks,  they  had  become  a  little  more  civilized. 
They  used  the  Greek  alphabet  2;  they  had,  like  the  Greeks, 


CINERAkY    URNS   IN    TERRA    COTTA, 

showing  forms  of  primitive  Latin  huts. 

olive*  and  fig-trees.  They  understood  the  art  of  working  in 
metals,  and  they  learned  to  build  after  the  Etruscan  model. 
They  lived  in  small  fortified  towns  on  the  hill-tops.  Each 
town  had  its  own  little  territory.  The  inhabitants  of  the 
town  formed  a  people  with  an  independent  government 
which  they  called  res  publica  (property  of  the  people)  or 
civitas  {city).  These  small  peoples  often  made  war  on  one 
another. 

['  The  Italian  physicians  have  had  the  honor  of  demonstrating  within 
the  last  two  years  that  the  mosquitoes  of  such  a  district  are  the  real  car- 
riers of  malarial  germs.] 

''■  Roman  letters  are  simply  ancient  Greek  letters,  shghtly  changed. 


14  THE  ROMAN  PEOPLE, 

On  the  Alban  Mount  there  was  a  sanctuary  consecrated 
to  the  Latin  god  Jupiter  {Latiaris),  common  to  all  the 
Latins.  Every  year  the  Latin  cities  (said  to  be  thirty  in  all) 
sent  delegates  who  met  in  a  sacred  wood  on  the  mountain 
and  sacrificed  a  bull  to  the  Latin  Jupiter. 

Italy  was  thus  inhabited  by  very  different  peoples,  without 
a  common  name.  Even  those  whom  to-day  we  recognize 
as  one  race,  the  Umbrians,  Sabines,  Sabellians,  and  Latins, 
were  ignorant  of  their  common  origin.  They  could  not 
converse  together  readily,  for  their  languages,  although  alike 
at  the  beginning,  had  becDme  different  with  time. 

The  most  civilized  of  all,  the  Greeks  in  the  south  and  the 
Etruscans  in  the  north,  were  foreigners.,  The  Latins,  living 
near  the  coast,  absorbed  the  civilization  of  these  strangers 
and,  going  far  ahead  of  the  mountain  peoples,  ended  by 
becoming  masters  of  all  Italy. 

PARALLEL   READING. 

Duruy Introduction. 

Mommsen Bk.  i,  cc.  i-iii,  viii-K. 

Botsford c.  i. 

How  and  Leigh cc.  i,  ii. 

Morey Introduction. 

Myers c.  i. 

Shuckburgh cc.  ii,  iii. 

Freeman Historical  Geography  of  Europe,  pp.  7-9, 

43-49- 

Tozer Classical  Geography,  cc.  ix,  x. 

Ihne Early  Rome,  c.  i,  for  Causes  of  the  Great- 
ness of  Rome. 

Shuckburgh c.  i,  for  Divisions  of  Romi^n  History. 

Dennis The  Cities  and  Cemeteries  of  Etruria. 

Fergusson History  of  Architecture,  Bk.  iv,  c.  i,  for 

Etruscan  Architecture. 


» 


CHAPTER    II. 
THE   KINGS  OF  ROME 

Foundation  of  Rome.  —  On  the  northern  frontier  o^ 
Latium,  close  to  Etruria,  is  the  site  of  Rome,  a  plain  inter- 
sected by  hills.  The  countr)'  about,  drained  by  the  Tiber, 
which  overflows  every  year,  was  marshy  and  unhealthy. 
Even  to-day  it  is  almost  impossible  to  avoid  fever  there. 
The  hills  are  low,  the  highest  being  only  i68  feet  in  height; 
some,  however,  are  very  steep  and  rise  from  the  plain  like 
natural  fortresses. 

On  the  Palatine,  near  the  Tiber  and  the  highest  of  all 
these  hills,  was  built  the  first  city  of  Rome.  It  was  but  a 
small  town  (hardly  6000  feet  around),  built  almost  in  the 
form  of  a  square;  it  was  indeed  called  Square  Rome  [Roma 
Quadrata).  The  city  was  strong,  surrounded  by  a  ditch 
which  ran  all  around  the  hill,  and  by  a  stone  wall  inside  the 
ditch.  Some  remains  of  this  wall  have  been  found.  It  had 
four  gates,  one  on  each  side. 

The  Romans  caid  that  Rome  had  been  founded  on  April 
21,  753;  that  is,  on  that  day  the  wall  had  been  marked  out 
with  a  religious  ceremony.  They  described  the  ceremony 
thus: 

The  founder,  clothed  in  a  white  robe,  had  yoked  a  bull  and 
a  heifer  of  spotless  white  to  a  plough  with  a  bronze  share. 
Then,  all  around  the  spot  where  he  wished  to  build  his  city  he 
drove  the  plough,  turning  a  furrow  to  mark  the  site  of  the  wall. 


i6 


THE  ROMAN  PEOPLE. 


Where  he  wished  the  gates  to  stand  he  lifted  the  plough  and 
carried  it  (hence  the  'LsXin  porta,  gate,  from  po^ /are,  to  carry)  so 
that  it  should  not  touch  the  earth  ;  for  the  furrow  traced  by  his 
plough  was  sacred  and  religion  forbade  its  being  crossed.  The 
furrow  therefore  had  to  be  interrupted  where  space  was  left  to 
go  in  and  out. 

On  April  21  of  each  year  the  Romans  celebrated  the  anni- 
versary of  the  foundation.      A  procession  marched  around 


SCALE  OF  FEET 


2000       3000 


THE   CITY    OF  THE    EARLY    KINGS — THE   THREE   TRIBES. 

A,  Roma  Quadrata;  B,  Arx,  or  Citadel. 

Temples,  altars,  etc.:    i,  Jupiter  Capitolinus;  2,  Janus;   3,  Quirinus;  4,  Vesta; 
5,  Tarpeian  Rock. 


the  old  wall  long  after  it  had  disappeared  and  a  priest  drove 
a  nail  in  a  temple. 

Legend  of  Romulus. — The  Romans  had  no  certain 
knowledge  of  the  history  of  their  city  during  the  centuries 
immediately  after  its  foundation.  They  treasured,  however, 
many  legends  of  these  ancient  times  which  they  accepted  as 
true.  These  legends  furnished  them  an  explanation  of  the 
monuments  they  saw  and  the  customs  they  practised. 


THE  KINGS  OF  ROME,  IJ 

I'hey  called  the  founder  of  Rome  Romulus  and  told  this 
legend  of  him : 

On  one  of  the  mountains  of  Latium  stood  a  city  called  Alba, 
whose  kings  were  said  to  be  descended  from  the  Trojan  hero 
^neas,  who  had  fled  to  Italy  after  the  burning  oi  Troy. 
Amulius,  twelfth  king  of  Alba,  had  dispossessed  his  brother 
Numitor  and  was  reigning  in  his  place.  Numitor  had  a  daugh- 
ter, Rhea  Sylvia,  whom  her  uncle  forced  to  become  a  priestess 
of  the  goddess  Vesta.  The  god  Mars  fell  in  love  with  her  and 
she  bore  him  two  sons,  Ronmlus  and  Remus.  The  king,  to 
rid  himself  of  them,  had  them  put  in  a  cradle  and  thrown  into 
the  overflowing  Tiber.  The  current  bore  the  cradle  into  the 
flooded  valley  and  to  the  foot  of  the  Palatine,  where  it  stopped 


BRONZE    WOI.F   OF    THE   CAPITOL. 

near  a  fig-tree.  There  a  wolf  came  and  suckled  the  two  chil- 
dren,* while  birds  hovered  over  the  cradle  to  keep  insects 
away.  A  shepherd  found  them  and  took  them  home  to  his 
wife,  who  brought  them  up. 

Romulus  and  Remus  grew  to  be  brave  men  and  made  war  on 
wild  beasts  and  robbers.  One  day  they  were  fighting  against 
Numitor's  shepherds  who  threatened  to  pasture  their  herds  on 
the  Aventine  hill.  Remus  was  seized  and  taken  before  Numi- 
tor, to  whom  he  related  his  story.  Numitor  remembered  his 
grandsons,  whom  he  had  long  thought  dead,  and  sent  for 
Romulus.  The  two  brothers  killed  Amulius  and  restored  Alba 
to  their  grandfather,  Numitor. 

The  king  sent  them  with  a  body  of  men  to  found  a  city  in  the 
neighborhood  where  they  had  been  brought  up.  Each  of  the 
two  watched  the  heavens  for  a  favorable  sign  from  the  gods, 
Romulus  from  Mount  Palatine,  Remus  from  Mount  Aventine. 
Remus  saw  six  vultures,  Romulus  twelve.     Their  companions 

'  A  bronze  group  in  the  Capitol  represented  two  children  suckled  by  a 
wolf. 


1 8  THE  ROMAN  PEOPLE. 

decided  in  favor  of  Romulus,  and  it  was  he  that  drove  the 
sacred  plough  around  the  Palatine  hill.  Remus  defied  him  and 
leaped  the  furrow.  r<omulas  killed  him  and  cried:  "Thus 
perish  all  who  dare  cross  this  wall  ! " 

On  a  neighboring  hill  stood  a  forest  of  sacred  oaks.  In  order  to 
increase  his  people,  Romulus  made  of  this  forest  a  refuge,  within 
whose  bounds  every  fugitive  was  safe.  Exiles,  runaway  slaves, 
and  criminals  came  here  from  all  countries.  Romulus  governed 
both  his  Alban  companions  on  the  Palatine  hill  and  the  exiles 
in  his  shelter. 

These  first  Romans  had  no  wives.  Romulus  therefore  asked 
them  of  the  people  round  about.  They  mocked  him,  saying : 
"  Open  an  asylum  for  women  also."  Romulus  invited  them  to 
the  festival  of  the  god  Consus.  The  Sabines  came  with  their 
families.  In  the  midst  of  the  festivities,  Romulus  gave  a  signal, 
whereupon  each  Roman  seized  a  young  girl,  carried  her  of!  and 
married  her.  Thus  the  Romans  procured  wives  through  the 
"  Rape  of  the  Sabines."^ 

The  Sabines  swore  vengeance  and  came  in  arms  to  attack 
Rome.  On  the  steep  hill  of  the  Capitol  opposite  the  Palatine 
Romulus  had  built  a  fort  and  stationed  a  garrison.  A  young 
girl  named  Tarpeia  offered  to  betray  the  fortress  to  the  Sabines 
in  return  for  what  they  bore  on  their  left  arms,  meaning  of 
course  their  golden  bracelets.  They  promised,  and  she  let  them 
in.  Once  in  possession  of  the  Capitol  they  threw  their  shields 
upon  her  and  crushed  her.  They  kept  their  promise,  for  they 
carried  the  shield  on  the  left  arm,  and  Tarpeia  was  punished  for 
her  treachery. 

The  Sabines  and  the  Romans  met  in  the  valley  between  the 
two  hills.  The  Romans  w^ere  giving  up  the  battle  and  turning 
to  flee,  when  Romulus  prayed  Jupiter  to  check  the  rout  and 
promised  to  build  him  a  temple.'  Immediately  the  Romans 
stood  their  ground.  At  the  same  moment  the  young  Sabine 
women,  now  the  wives  of  the  Romans  who  had  stolen  them, 
ran  to  throw  themselves  between  their  husbands  and  their 
fathers,  weeping  and  praying.  The  warriors  heard  their  suppli- 
cation and  ceased  to  fight.'  The  two  kings  soon  concluded  a 
treaty  and  the  two  peoples  were  henceforth  one.     Romulus, 

[*  This  myth  probably  rose  as  an  attempted  explanation  of  the  primi- 
tive custom  of  marriage  by  seizure  of  the  bride.] 

*  There  was  at  Rome  a  temple  consecrated  to  Jupiter  Stator  {vfYio 
checks). 

^  In  commemoration  of  the  service  rendered  by  the  Sabine  women  in 
separating  the  combatants,  the  women  of  Rome  went  every  year  on 
March  1 1  to  place  wreaths  of  flowers  in  the  temple  of  the  goddess  Juno 
and  spent  the  rest  of  the  day  in  their  houses  in  festal  attire. 


THE  KINGS  OF  ROME.  19 

settled  on  the  Palatine,  reigned  in  common  with  Tatius,  king  of 
the  Sabines,  on  the  Capiiol. 

Romulus  ou;  lived  Tatius  and  vanquished  many  of  the  neigh- 
boring peoples.  One  day  the  Romans  had  all  assembled  for  a 
review  in  the  Field  of  Mars,  when  a  violent  thunder-storm  burst 
upon  them.  The  terrified  people  scattered  in  all  directions. 
When  the  storm  was  over,  Romulus  was  nowhere  to  be  seen. 
Some  days  later,  a  senator  swore  that  he  had  seen  the  king 
drawn  up  to  heaven  in  a  chariot  in  the  midst  of  the  thunder 
and  lightning.  The  Romans  inferred  from  this  that  Romulus 
had  gone  to  join  the  gods,  and  they  worshipped  him  under  the 
name  of  Quirinus. 

Legend  of  Numa. — Numa,  the  second  king,  is  credited 
with  the  organization  of  the  Roman  religion. 

After  the  deatii  of  Romulus,  the  two  united  peoples,  Romans 
and  Sabines,  were  for  a  year  without  a  king ;  they  finally  chose 
a  Sabine,  Numa  Pompilius.  He  was  wise  and  just,  a  lover  of 
peace,  a  devoted  worshipper  of  the  gods,  and  beloved  by  them. 
At  night  he  went  to  the  sacred  wood  of  the  Camenae  on  the 
Coelian  Hill  to  a  place  where  an  inexhaustible  stream  flowed 
down  through  a  rocky  cavern.  There  Numa  met  a  goddess, 
the  nymph  Egeria,  who  gave  him  her  counsel. 

Thanks  to  this  divine  counsel,  he  regulated  the  ceremonies 
in  the  way  most  pleasing  to  the  gods.  He  created  pontiffs, 
omens,  and  vestals :  he  forbade  the  sacrifice  of  blood.  He 
built  the  temple  of  Saturn  and  the  temple  of  Janus,  the  latter 
to  stand  open  as  long  as  Rome  should  be  at  war.  Numa,  being 
a  peaceful  ruler,  kept  it  closed.  After  him,  however,  it  had  to 
be  left  open  for  several  centuries. 

Legend  of  TuUus  and  the  Horatii. — The  third  king, 
Tullus,  was  represented  as  a  warrior  and  friend  of  the  poor. 
The  combat  between  the  Horatii  and  the  Curiatii  is  credited 
to  his  reign. 

Tullus  Hostilius  was  said  to  be  the  grandson  of  a  Latin.  He 
established  himself  on  the  Coelian  Hill,  among  the  poor,  and 
gave  land  to  citizens  who  had  none.  His  reign  was  devoted  to 
war. 

Alba  Longa,  built  on  a  mountain  and  the  most  powerful  city 
in  the  country,  had  for  a  long  time  been  at  war  with  Rome. 
At  length  the  two  peoples  determined  to  end  the  war  by  a 
duel.  Three  champions  on  each  side  met  in  the  presence  of 
the  two  armies ;  the  people  whose  champions  should  conquer 
was   to   be   master  of  the  other.     Rome   chose  three  young 


20  THE  ROMAN  PEOPLE, 

brothers,  the  Horatii ;  Alba,  the  three  young  Curiatii.  They 
fought  in  a  plain  between  the  two  armies. 

In  the  first  engagement  two  of  the  Horatii  were  killed,  while 
all  three  Curiatii  were  wounded.  The  Albans  thought  they 
were  already  victorious  and  shouted  for  joy.  The  third  Hora- 
tius,  still  unwounded,  made  as  if  to  flee.  The  wounded  Curiatii 
pursued  him  and  in  the  pursuit  were  separated.  Horatius,  see- 
ing them  widely  separated,  turned,  attacked  them  one  by  one, 
killed  all  three,'  and  seized  their  armor.  In  his  way  back  to 
Rome,  laden  with  his  trophies,  Horatius  met  his  sister,  who 
had  been  betrothed  to  one  of  the  dead  Curiatii.  Recognizing 
her  lover's  arms,  she  began  to  weep  and  call  for  him.  Horatius 
was  enraged  and  pierced  her  with  his  spear,  crying,  "  Thus 
perish  every  Roman  who  weeps  at  the  death  of  an  enemy ! " 
He  was  seized  and  condemned  to  death.  His  father  begged  the 
people  not  to  take  his  last  remaining  child,  and  they  pardoned 
him.  To  expiate  his  crime,  his  father  erected  a  yoke'*  in  the 
middle  of  the  road  and  made  him  pass  under  it  with  veiled 
head. 

The  Albans  were  now  obliged  to  follow  the  Romans  in  all 
their  wars.  In  one  battle  Mettius  Fuffetins,  the  Alban  chief, 
instead  of  fighting,  held  his  men  aside,  awaiting  the  outcome 
before  joining  the  stronger  side.  The  Romans  won  the  day, 
and  after  the  battle  Tullus  had  Mettius  bound  by  his  hands  and 
feet  to  two  chariots,  which  were  then  driven  in  opposite  direc- 
tions, tearing  the  traitor's  body  in  two.  A  troop  of  horsemen 
then  hastened  to  Alba,  destroyed  the  city,  and  led  its  people  to 
Rome,  where  they  were  established  on  the  Ccelian  Hill. 

One  day  Tullus  was  trying  to  make  thunder  descend  on  the 
altar,  when  by  some  mistake  the  thunderbolt  came  down  on 
him,  burned  him  to  death,  and  set  fire  to  his  palace. 

Legend   of   Ancus  Martius. — This  is  the  legend  of  the 

fourth  king  of  Rome. 

Ancus  Martius,  grandson  of  Numa,  was  chosen  by  the  Ro- 
mans. He  made  war  on  the  Latins,  took  a  number  of  their 
cities  and  brought  their  inhabitants  to  live  in  Rome  on  the 
Aventine  Hill.  He  extended  the  territory  of  Rome  to  the  sea, 
and  established  the  port  of  Ostia  at  the  mouth  of  the  Tiber. 
He  built  a  wooden  bridge  over  the  Tiber  and,  on  the  other 
side  of  the  river,  the  fortress  of  Mount  Janiculum. 

*  There  were  near  Rome  three  tombs  close  together  called  the  Tombs 
of  the  Curiatii,  and  near  by  a  single  tomb  in  which  it  is  said  the  two 
Horatii  were  buried  together. 

'  There  was  in  Rome  a  yoke  known  as  the  Sister's  Beam. 


THE  KINGS  OF  ROME.  2\ 

Legend  of  Tarquinius  the  Elder. — Legend  represents  the 
following  kings  as  foreigners  from  Etruria  and  calls  the  head 
of  this  Etruscan  family  Tarquinius  the  Elder. 

Tarquin  was  the  son  of  a  Greek  noble  belonging  to  Corinth, 
who,  driven  from  his  country  by  a  revolution,  had  settled  at 
Tarquinii  in  Etruria.  His  wife,  Tanaquil,  vvho  had  the  power 
of  reading  the  future,  advised  him  to  go  to  Rome  with  his 
property  and  his  household. 

As  they  came  to  Janiculum,  an  eagle  slowly  descended  upon 
Tarquin,  plucked  off  his  cap,  hovered  for  a  moment  above  the 
chariot  with  wild  cries,  then  replaced  the  cap.  Tanaquil  em- 
braced her  husband  and  explained  to  him  the  meaning  of  the 
omen — that  Tarquin  should  be  king. 

Ancus,  king  of  Rome,  took  Tarquin  for  his  friend,  and  on  his 
death  confided  his  son  to  his  care.  Tarquin  had  won  the  love 
of  the  people,  and  they  elected  him  king.  He  beautified  Rome, 
built  a  circus  for  festivals,  and  an  underground  drain  for  the 
lower  part  of  the  city.  He  adopted  the  royal  emblems  of  the 
Etruscans,  the  purple  robe,  the  crown,  the  sceptre  surmounted 
by  the  eagle,  and  the  ivory  throne. 

Legend  of  Servius  Tulliu» — Servius  Tullius,  the  sixth 
king,  was  an  organizer. 

Son  of  a  slave  or  of  a  prince  killed  in  war  (here  the  legend 
varies),  he  was  brought  up  in  the  palace.  Tanaquil  gave  him 
her  daughter  in  marriage,  then  had  him  declared  king. 

It  was  he  that  divided  the  people  into  tribes,  organized  the 
army  into  centuries,  and  built  a  new  wall,  the  wall  of  Servius. 

He  married  his  two  daughters  to  the  two  sons  of  Tarquin. 
One  of  these,  Tullla,  a  wicked  and  ambitious  woman,  poisoned 
her  husband  and  married  her  brother-in-law,  Lucius.  He  also 
was  ambitious,  and  conspired  against  his  father-in-law.  One 
day  he  came  to  the  senate  chamber  in  the  royal  robes,  seized 
Servius  and  threw  him  down  the  stone  stairway.  Tullia  came 
to  greet  the  new  king,  driving  her  chariot  over  the  bleeding 
body  of  her  father.' 

The  Roman  People. — It  is  certain  that  the  Roman  people 
was  for  a  long  time  very  small  and  constantly  at  war  with 
the  other  small  peoples  in  the  neighborhood. 

The  Roman  territory  was  small,  composed  in  part  of 
barren  hills.      Each  family  had   ordinarily  a  small  field   of 

*  There  was  a  street  in  Rome  called  the  Via  Scelerata,  so  called,  it  is 
said,  on  account  of  Tullia' s  crime. 


2  2  THE  ROMAN  PEOPLE. 

two  acres,  a  sort  of  garden,  where  they  raised  grain  and 
various  vegetables,  peas,  beans,  and  cabbages.  The  rich 
were  those  who  had  a  herd  of  sheep  or  oxen. 

Money  was  not  yet  in  use.  In  making  a  purchase,  a 
certain  number  of  oxen  or  sheep  were  given,  or  else  a  bit  of 
bronze  weighed  in  the  balance.  A  fine  consisted  in  handing 
over  to  the  state  so  many  sheep  ox  oxen.  The  word  pecunia^ 
meaning  fortune,  comes  from  pecus,  meaning  cattle. 

Patricians  and  Clients. — The  Romans  were  farmers  and 
shepherds.  These  peasants  were  not  equal.  Certain  families 
possessed  almost  all  the  lands  and  herds.  These  families 
were  not,  like  ours,  composed  simply  of  father,  mother,  and 
children.  The  gens,  as  this  sort  of  family  was  called, 
included  all  the  men  descended  from  a  common  ancestor, 
so  that  a  single  gens  often  comprised  many  families  (the  gens 
Fabia,  for  instance,  is  said  to  have  included  more  than  three 
hundred  warriors).  Each  gens  obeyed  a  common  chief,  the 
pater  (father)  and  had  a  common  sanctuary  where  the 
members  came  at  certain  times  to  worship  the  souls  of  their 
dead  ancestors  and  celebrate  religious  ceremonies.  There 
were  said  to  be  three  hundred  of  these  gentes.  Those 
belonging  to  them  were  called  patricians  (sons  of  the  paler). 
They  alone  could  govern,  command,  or  seek  justice  of  the 
tribunal.  All  the  rest  of  the  people  respected  them  as 
superiors. 

Side  by  side  with  the  patricians  lived  the  free  men,  poorer 
and  of  less  importance;  these  were  called  clients.  Each  had 
a  patrician  iox  patron;  the  client  owed  his  patron  obedience, 
labor  on  his  estate,  and  service  in  time  of  war.  The 
patrician,  in  return,  protected  the  client,  gave  him  a  living, 
and  represented  him  before  the  tribunal,  where  the  client 
could  not  appear  himself. 

The  Plebeians. — The  patricians  and  their  clients  formed 
the  populus,  that  is  to  say,  the  body  of  citizens.  They  alone 
might  appear  in  the  assembly  of  the  people  and  at  religious 
ceremonies. 


THE  KINGS  OF  ROME,  23 

But  there  was  a  constantly  increasing  class  of  men  who 
were  obedient  to  the  Roman  government  and  fought  in  the 
Roman  army,  without  having  the  right  to  take  part  in  either 
assemblies  or  ceremonies.  These  were  known  as  the  plebs 
(or  common  herd),  as  distinguished  from  i\\e  people.  "  May 
this  be  favorable  to  the  people  and  thQ plebs  of  Rome,"  ran 
an  ancient  prayer.^ 

The  King  and  the  Senate. — The  king  controlled  the 
government.  He  levied  taxes,  exercised  justice,  convoked 
the  assembly,  ordered  the  people  to  war,  and  made  disposi- 
tion of  the  spoils  of  war. 

Commonly,  before  deciding  a  question,  he  called  together 
the  chiefs  of  every  ge?is  in  council  and  asked  their  advice. 
This  council  was  called  the  Patres  (Fathers)  or  the  Senate 
(the  Elders).^ 

The  Comitia  Curiata. — When  the  question  was  of  general 
interest,  the  king  assembled  the  whole  people,  each  man 
with  his  own  gens.  A  number  oi  gentes  together  formed  a 
curia  (of  which  there  were  thirty  in  all).  Each  curia  had  its 
chapel  and  its  own  curio  or  priest;  first  came  a  sacrifice, 
followed  by  deliberation  and  a  vote.  The  vote  of  the 
majority  of  the  curiae  was  the  vote  of  the  people.  After  this 
manner  were  the  laws  made.^ 

[^  The  account  here  given  of  the  probable  origin  of  clients  and  plebei- 
ans, and  of  the  rights  and  duties  of  these  two  classes  in  such  matters  as 
taking  part  in  the  popular  assembly  and  bearing  arms,  may  well  be 
supplemented  by  the  views  of  other  writers.  The  whole  subject  is 
obscure  by  reason  of  the  scanty  material  on  which  conclusions  must  be 
based.  Hence  exact  statements  as  to  the  different  classes  are  mainly 
conjecture.  Compare  the  treatment  of  the  subject  in  some  of  the  works 
named  at  the  end  of  the  chapter.] 

['■^  This  senate,  according  to  later  tradition,  consisted  at  first  of  one 
hundred,  later  of  two  hundred  (as  a  second  tribe  was  added.  Cf.  note  3), 
and  finally  of  three  hundred  members.  But  Plutarch  (Poplicola) 
reckons  only  a  hundred  and  thirty- six  senators  at  the  close  of  the  regal 
period.  ] 

P  The  thirty  curiae  were  grouped  in  three  tribes,  a  second  and  third 
being  added  to  the  original  group  as  new  peoples  were  added  to  the 


24  THE  ROMAN  PEOPLE. 

Growth  of  Rome. — All  through  this  period,  Rome  was 
growing  fast.  It  had  begun  as  a  little  city  on  the  Palatine. 
There  were  the  most  ancient  memorials  of  Rome;  the 
Palatium  (royal  palace),  Romulus'  little  dwelling,  a  little 
grotto  shaded  by  a  fig-tree  where  the  wolf  is  said  to  have 
suckled  Romulus,  a  marvellous  dogberry-tree  said  to  have 
sprung  from  a  javelin  thrown  by  Romulus,  and  the  mundus, 
a  little  hole  in  which,  on  the  day  the  city  was  founded,  were 
thrown  objects  of  good  omen  to  bring  prosperity  to  the  new 
city. 

The  city  began  to  spread.  Houses  were  built  on  the 
other  hills  and  in  the  valleys,  while  at  different  times  these 
new  settlements  were  enclosed  within  an  ever-increasing  wall. 

The  last  and  greatest  wall,  known  as  the  wall  of  Servius 
Tullius,  was  a  rampart  of  earth  reinforced  on  both  sides  by 
a  wall  of  cut  stone,  without  mortar;  some  of  which  has  been 
found  buried  under  the  ruins.  This  wall,  thirteen  feet  thick 
and  fifty  feet  high,  surrounded  all  the  space  covered  by  the 
seven  hills  and  on  both  sides  stretched  to  the  '^I'iber,  which 
served  as  defence  on  the  west. 

Within  this  new  wall,  opposite  the  Palatine,  rises  the 
Capitoline  hill,  over  140  feet  in  height,  with  a  sharp  declivity 
at  the  rear,  known  as  the  Tarpeian  rock,  from  which  con- 
demned prisoners  were  sometimes  thrown.  At  the  summit 
stood  the  citadel,  where  the  treasure  and  the  archives  were 
kept,  and  beside  it  the  temple  of  Jupiter  Capitolinus,  the 
protecting  deity  of  Rome, 

Outside  the  wall,  in  the  bend  of  the  Tiber,  lies  a  little 
plain  called  the  Campus  Martins  (Field  of  Mars),  where 
fighting  was  forbidden.  The  only  bridge  over  the  Tiber  was 
of  wood,  and  made  so  that  it  could  be  lifted  in  case  an 
enemy  should  attack  the  city. 

primitive  Romans.  The  three  tribes  are  known  as  Ramnes,  Tities,  and 
Luceres.  From  this  threefold  division  may  have  come  the  term  tribe 
[tribus].  The  tribal  arrangements  of  Servius  and  of  later  times  were  on 
a  different  basis.  ] 


THE  KINGS  OF  ROME. 


25 


The  low  valley  at  the  foot  of  these  hills,  where  the  Foruro 
(market-place)  stood,  was  swampy.      An  underground  drain 


CLOACA    MAXIMA. 


2600  feet  in  length  was  constructed,  covered  by  an  arch  built 
of  great  blocks  of  cut  stone  without  cement.     This  drain, 


26  THE  ROMAN  PEOPLE. 

the  Cloaca  Maxima,  empties  into  the  Tiber.  It  is  still  in 
existence,  though  partly  in  ruins.  In  old  times  it  was  so 
large  that  a  boat  could  enter  it. 

SOURCES. 

Livy Bk.  I,  §§  1-48. 

Cicero Republic,  Bk.  11,  §§  1-23. 

Plutarch Romulus,  Numa. 

Eutropius Bk.  i,  §§  1-7. 

Florus Bk.  I,  cc.  i-vi. 

PARALLEL   READING. 

Duruy cc.  i,  ii. 

Ihne Bk.  I,  cc.  ii-viii,  xiii ;  Early  Rome,  cc.  iii, 

V,  vii-ix. 

Mommsen Bk.  i,  cc.  iv-vii. 

Abbott Ro7naii  Political  Institutions,  cc.  i,  ii. 

Botsford c.  ii. 

Greenidge Roman  Public  Life,  c.  i. 

How  and    Leigh....  cc.  iii,  iv. 

Morey cc.  ii-v. 

Myers cc.  ii,  iv. 

Pelham Bk.  i,  cc.  i,  iii. 

Shuckburgh cc.  iv,  v. 


CHAPTER    III. 
ABOLITION   OF  ROYALTY. 

Legend  of  the  Expulsion  of  the  Tarquins, — At  the  end 

of  the  sixth  century  B.C.  there  were  no  more  kings  in  Rome. 
The  change  is  explained  thus: 

Lucius  Tarquinius,  called  Superbus  (the  proud),  after  killing 
Servius,  had  forced  the  senate  to  accept  him  as  king.  He 
governed  as  a  despot,  regardless  of  law,  killing  those  that  dis- 
pleased him  and  confiscating  their  possessions.  A  guard  of 
mercenaries  supported  him  in  oppressing  his  subjects.  He  was 
rich  and  powerful,  conquered  the  cities  of  Latium  and  built 
great  structures  in  Rome. 

While  Tarquin  was  besieging  the  city  of  Ardea,  Sextus,  one 
of  his  sons,  left  the  camp  and,  coming  by  night  to  the  house  of 
his  cousin,  Tarquinius  Collatinus,  dishonored  Lucretia,  his  wife. 
The  next  day  Lucretia  sent  for  her  husband  and  Lucretius,  her 
father,  told  them  her  story,  made  them  swear  vengeance  on  the 
guilty  man,  and  then  plunged  a  knife  into  her  heart. 

Collatinus  had  brought  with  him  his  friend  Brutus,  nephew 
of  the  king.  Brutus  swore  to  punish  the  race  of  the  Tarquins 
and  put  down  the  kings.  Collatinus  and  Lucretius  came  to 
Rome  with  Lucretia's  bleeding  body  and  called  the  senate 
together.  The  senate  convoked  the  assembly,  Tarquin  was 
declared  dethroned  and  his  family  exiled.  Brutus  went  to  the 
camp  before  Ardea,  roused  the  soldiers,  and  forced  Tarquin  to 
flee  into  Etruria.  Brutus  and  Collatinus  were  given  charge 
of  the  government.     This  revolution  took  place  in  510  B.C. 

Some  time  later,  a  number  of  Etruscan  envoys  came  to  Rome 
under  pretext  of  demanding  restitution  of  Tarquin's  possessions. 
They  conspired  with  some  of  the  young  men  of  the  leading 
families  to  restore  the  banished  king ;  among  the  conspirators 
were  the  two  sons  of  Brutus.  A  slave  overheard  their  dis- 
cussion and  denounced  them.  They  were  condemned  and 
executed,  Brutus  himself  passing  judgment  on  them.  Tarquin's 
lands,  on  the  shore  of  the  Tiber,  were  consecrated  to  the  god 

27 


28 


THE  ROMAN  PEOPLE. 


Mars  ;  the  cultivation  of  this  tract  was  forbidden  and  it  became 
the  Campus  Martins. 

Tarquin  came  back  with  an  Etruscan  army,  and  they  fought 
the  Romans  for  a  whole  day.     Brutus  and  the  son  of  Tarquin 


SCALE  OF   FEET 

1000       2000       3000 


THE   CITY    OF   THE   LATER    KINGS — WALLS    OF   SBRVIUS. 

The  four  Servian  regions:  I,  Suburana;  II,  Palatina;  III,  Esquilina;  IV, 
Collina. 

The  chief  gates  of  Rome  :  a,  Collina;  <5,  Viminalis;  f,  Esquilina;  </,  Querque- 
tulana;  /,  Capena;  /,  Ratumena. 

The  chief  buildings,  etc.:  i,  Temple  of  Jupiter  Capitolinus;  2,  Janus;  3,  Quiri- 
nus;  4,  Vesta;  5,  Saturn;  6,  Diana;  7,  Circus  Maximus;  8,  Cloaca  Maxima; 
9,  Vicus  Tuscus. 

were  both  mortally,  wounded.  Night  ended  the  battle,  and 
neither  side  had  won.  At  midnight  a  voice  came  from  the 
forest  crying,  "  Rome  has  lost  one  man  less  than  the  Etruscans." 
The  Etruscans  were  terrified  and  fled.  A  statue  of  Brutus, 
sword  in  hand,  was  erected  on  the  Capitol. 

The  Consulate. — At  first  no  change  was  made  in  the 
government  at  Rome,  except  that,  in  place  of  a  king  chosen 
for  life,  there  were  now  two  magistrates  elected  for  a  year 
only.     These  were  called  praetors,  later  consuls. 


/iBOLITION  OF  ROYALTY. 


29 


The  Roman  people  elected  them  for  a  year  and  gave  its 
power  into  their  hands.  Each  governed  in  turn,  with  abso- 
lute power  (called  in  Latin  imperiuni).      He  commanded  the 


army;  he  held  the  tribunal  and  pronounced  judgment;  he 
convoked  and  presided  over  all  assemblies.  He  had  the 
right  to  arrest  and  to  imprison,  the  right  to  fine  and  even 
condemn  to  death. 

As  the  sign  of  his  power  the  consul  had  the  former  royal 


3° 


THE  ROMAN  PEOPLE. 


insignia,  the  ivory  or  curule  chair,  ^  the  robe  of  purple  or 
bordered  with  purple  {^prcetextd).  He  was  accompanied  by 
twelve  lictors,  each  of  whom  carried  on  the  left  shoulder  a 
bunch  of  rods  [fasces)  with  an  axe  in  the  middle,  as  a  sign 


;VMl|(:i:.    ....      •■• 

'C'oTAcaiocFVc] 

•OPPlArWlClvl^- 


^ii..H^^'v>s^ii^fi 


CURULH   CHAIR   AND   FASCES. 

that  the  consul  had  the  right  to  have  any  citizen  beaten  with 
the  rods  or  executed  with  the  axe. 

The  Romans  said  that  the  consul  had  the  same  power  as 
the  king,  but  this  power  was  brief  and  divided.  The  consul 
governed  but  one  year,  and  he  had  a  colleague  (consul  prob- 
ably means  colleague)  whose  power  was  equal  to  his  own 
and  who  could  oppose  his  actions. 

The  Dictatorship. — In  times  of  special  moment,  as  in  the 
event  of  invasion  or  of  tumult  among  the  people,  it  was 
customary  to  replace  the  two  consuls  by  a  single  chief  who 
should  assume  command  as  the  king  did  formerly.  One  of 
the  consuls  appointed   him  by  night  in  silence.     He   was 


'  A  folding  seat  without  arms  or  back. 


ylBOLITION  OF  ROYALTY.  31 

called  **  master  of  the  people  "  or  **  dictator. "  He  retained 
all  twenty-four  lictors  and  had  no  colleague  to  limit  his 
power.  He  himself  chose  his  lieutenant,  the  **  master  of 
the  horse/'  having  six  lictors.^ 

Ihe  danger  past,  the  dictator  abdicated.  His  term  of 
power  could  in  no  case  exceed  six  months. 

Assembly  of  the  People. — The  consuls  had  the  supreme 
command,  but  the  Roman  people  alone  had  the  right  to 
make  laws,  to  decide  questions  of  peace  and  war,  and  to 
elect  the  consuls.  The  people  must  therefore  hold  meetings. 
Their  assemblies  were  called  comitia.  These  were  of  differ- 
ent kinds;  the  Comitia  Curiata,  the  most  ancient,  early  lost 
its  political  powers,  and  retained  only  certain  religious  and 
perfunctory  duties.  It  continued  to  bestow  the  imperium  on 
the  consuls  chosen  by  the  comitia  centuriata,  and  to  ratify 
adoption  into  a  patrician  family.  But  these  formal  duties 
were  commonly  carried  out  by  a  small  commission  of  the 
whole  body. 

The  chief  assembly,  the  comitia  centuriata,  consisted  of  the 
citizens  under  arms.  This  assembly  voted  the  laws  and 
treaties  and  elected  the  magistrates.  It  was  convoked  by  a 
magistrate,  ordinarily  one  of  the  consuls,  who  summoned  all 
the  citizens  to  appear  in  arms  on  a  set  day:  this  was  called 
**  mustering  the  army.  "  » 

On  the  night  before  the  muster,  at  midnight,  the  consul 
went  to  the  place  where  the  assembly  was  to  be  held.  There 
he  took  the  auspices,  that  is  to  say,  asked  the  gods  whether 
the  assembly  had  their  favor.  For  this  purpose  one  of  the 
augurs  traced  a  square,  the  templum;  the  consul  prayed,  then 
sat  down  and  silently  watched  the  signs  that  the  gods  should 
send;  these  were  given  through  birds,  or  sacred  chickens. 
If  the  signs  appeared  unfavorable,  the  consul  could  postpone 

[*  The  lictors  of  the  consuls  were  obliged  to  remove  the  axes  from  their 
fasces  when  in  the  city,  in  token  that  the  consular  power  of  life  and  death 
existed  only  outside  the  city.  But  the  lictors  of  the  dictator  carried  the 
axes  everywhere.] 


32  THE  ROMAN  PEOPLE. 

the  assembly  to  another  day.  If,  however,  the  consul  found 
the  signs  favorable,  he  gave  the  final  order  for  the  assembly 
by  pronouncing,  without  leaving  the  templum,  the  formula: 
"Quirites,  I  order  you  to  assemble."  Thereupon,  while  it 
was  still  dark,  trumpets  were  blown  from  the  wall  and  in  the 
citadel  to  notify  the  citizens. 

At  break  of  day  the  whole  army  gathered  outside  the  town 
on  the  Campus  Martins,  for  their  religion  forbade  them  to 
bear  arms  within  the  sacred  wall.  Under  the  orders  of  the 
consul  the  public  crier  declared  the  assembly  in  session. 

The  first  proceeding  was  a  religious  ceremony:  a  sacrifice 
was  offered,  and  prayer  was  made  to  the  gods  that  they 
"  would  turn  to  the  profit  of  the  Roman  people  that  which 
should  be  resolved."  And  then  the  magistrate  explained 
the  object  of  the  meeting.  He  could  at  will  allow  anybody 
to  speak,  but  nobody  could  speak  without  his  permission. 
If  the  meeting  was  for  an  election,  he  gave  the  names  of  those 
that  he  would  allow  to  be  elected,  and  no  others  could  be 
chosen.  It  sometimes  happened  that  a  consul  proposed 
only  as  many  names  as  there  were  places  to  be  filled, — in 
which  case  the  assembly  could  vote  on  these  names  alone. 

After  having  stated  the  object  of  the  meeting,  the  consul 
said:  "I  command  you  to  assemble  in  comitia  by  cen- 
turies." The  citizens  proceeded  to  arrange  themselves,  each 
in  his  century,  behind  their  standards.  Then  in  each  century 
a  polling  officer  (rogaior)  took  the  votes.  Each  citizen  voted 
orally.  In  this  way  the  vote  of  the  century  was  ascertained, 
and  the  votes  of  the  majority  of  the  centuries  constituted  the 
vote  of  the  assembly.  For,  in  the  Roman  assemblies,  the 
vote  was  the  vote  of  groups  and  ^ot  of  individuals. 

Since  the  organization  attributed  to  Servius  Tullius,  the 
Roman  army  was  divided  into  eighteen  centuries  of  horsemen 
and  five  classes  of  foot-soldiers. 

The  citizens  were  distributed  among  these  classes  accord- 
ing to  their  wealth  (the  richest  in  the  first  class)  and  each 
class  was  divided  into  centuries,  as  follows : 


ABOLITION  OF  ROYALTY.  33 

Class      I.    Eighty  centuries. 

Class    II.   Twenty  centuries. 

Class  III.   Twenty  centuries. 

Class  IV.   Twenty  centuries. 

Class     V.   Thirty  centuries. 

Besides  these  there  were  two  centuries  of  laborers,  two  of 
musicians,  and  one  century  to  which  were  assigned  all  who 
were  too  poor  to  belong  to  the  classes.  In  all  there  were 
one  hundred  and  ninety-three  centuries. 

The  horsemen  were  the  first  to  vote  and  their  votes  were 
proclaimed;  then  the  centuries  of  class  I,  and  so  on  in 
order.  As  soon  as  a  majority  was  obtained,  the  decision  of 
the  assembly  was  announced,  so  that  the  citizens  of  the  later 
classes,  the  poorer  men,  were  commonly  not  called  to  vote. 
Under  this  arrangement  if  the  ninety-eight  centuries  of  the 
knights  and  the  first  class  were  agreed,  the  matter  was  already 
settled,  for  they  were  a  majority. 

When  the  voting  was  finished,  the  magistrate  proclaimed 
the  result  and  ordered  the  assembly  to  disperse.  The  busi- 
ness had  to  be  finished  before  sunset.  If,  while  the  assembly 
was  sitting,  an  unfavorable  omen  were  observed,  if,  for 
example,  it  thundered,  or  some  one  had  an  epileptic  fit,  the 
magistrate  adjourned  the  assembly  to  another  day,  and  the 
whole  business  had  to  be  done  over  again. 

The  Senate. — The  senate  retained  the  functions  it  had  in 
the  time  of  the  kings.  It  had  been  the  council  of  the  king, 
it  became  the  council  of  the  consuls.  The  consul  called 
it  together  when  he  wished  its  advice.  The  senate  had  no 
independent  power;  but,  as  it  was  composed  of  all  the 
former  magistrates,  the  heads  of  noble  families,  the  consuls 
usually  consulted  it  on  all  serious  matters  and  followed  its 
advice.  In  this  way  the  senate  came  to  direct  the  govern- 
ment.^ 

*  Credibility  of   the  Early  History. — In  the  foregoing 

^  In  Chapter  XII  will  be  found  a  description  of  a  meeting  of  the  senate 
in  the  second  century. 


34  THE  ROMAN  PEOPLE. 

story  of  primitive  Rome  much  has_  been  set  down  as  mere 
legend.  Part  of  it  may  be  true;  part  must  be  romance. 
Other  portions  of  this  early  history  are  taken  as  substantial 
fact.  The  reasons  which  govern  this  acceptance  or  rejection 
may  be  briefly  summarized. 

The  history  of  all  primitive  peoples  begins  in  the  same 
way,  with  the  ballad  or  epic,  the  myth  and  the  legend  of 
uncritical  times.  Even  so  sober  and  prosaic  a  history  as  that 
of  America  has  already  developed  a  necessity  for  the  sifting 
out  from  it  of  the  legendary.  From  history  thus  handed 
down  criticism  rejects  at  once  the  impossible  and  manifestly 
absurd.  It  also  looks  askance  at  the  improbable  and  feels 
room  for  doubt  when  it  finds  a  tale  repeated  under  differing 
guises  or  told  with  variations  by  different  peoples.  But 
institutions,  political  and  religious,  especially  among  a 
people  tenacious  of  forms  as  the  Romans  were,  endure  per- 
sistently. Material  monuments  also  may  be  trusted.  And 
so,  piece  by  piece,  comparing  the  known  with  the  unknown, 
and  depending  upon  what  is  certain,  and  accepting  what 
seems  reasonable  and  probable,  a  satisfactory  account  is 
made  up.  But  within  such  limits  there  is  wide  room  for 
diversity  of  opinion.  Hence  arise  many  of  the  differing 
views  held  of  the  institutions  of  early  Rome. 

The  written  sources  of  Roman  history  begin  only  at  a  time 
centuries  later  than  the  monarchy,  and  when  the  republic 
had  long  been  venerable.  We  depend  mainly  upon  Livy 
(B.C.  59-A.D.  17)  and  Dionysius  of  Halicarnassus,  who  wrote 
in  Rome  between  29  B.C.  and  19  a.d.  These  and  minor 
authorities  drew  on  earlier  writers,  the  names  of  several  of 
whom  are  known.  Marcus  Porcius  Cato  (b.c.  231-149)  had 
carefully  compiled  a  history.  Polybius  wrote  in  Greek 
between  b.c.  167  and  151  a  Universal  History.  Quintus 
Fabius  Pictor,  a  senator  during  the  Second  Punic  War, 
wrote,  probably  in  Greek,  the  story  of  his  city.  Timaeus, 
a  Sicilian  Greek,  composed  about  300  B.C.  an  account  of 
early  Rome. 


ABOLITION  OF  ROYALTY,  35 

Written  history  can  thus  be  traced  back  only  to  somewhere 
near  300  b.c. — a  time  further  from  the  foundation  of  the 
city  than  our  own  age  from  that  of  Columbus,  and  as  distant 
from  the  first  days  of  the  republic  as  the  present  time  from 
that  of  Queen  Anne.  Small  wonder  that  writers  of  so  late 
a  date  after  the  events  they  describe  should  not  be  given  full 
credence. 

The  sack  of  Rome  by  the  Gauls  in  390  B.C.  probably 
destroyed  many  ancient  records,  public  and  private,  and  also 
rnany  monuments  of  the  elder  time.  The  Capitol,  however, 
was  saved  and  in  it  may  have  been  stored  many  of  the 
archives  of  the  city.  Such  were  the  Annales  Maximi,  or 
annual  records  of  the  Pontifex  Maxim  us,  and  the  Commen- 
taries of  the  college  of  pontiffs  on  civil  and  religious 
formalities.  Magistrates  recorded  their  deeds  in  so-called 
libri  lintei.  There  were  also  private  memorials,  such  as  the 
laudaiiones  or  funeral  eulogies  of  the  dead,  and  inscriptions 
on  tombs,  which  must  have  been  rich  in  historic  material. 

Thus  it  is  evident  that  the  history  of  the  monarchy  and 
the  'early  republic  must  be  very  cautiously  received  in  its 
details,  while  its  main  outlines  may  be  regarded  as  reason- 
ably certain. 

SOURCES. 

Livy Bk.  i,  §^  49-60. 

Eutropius Bk.  I,  ^§  8-10. 

Cicero Republic,  Bk.  Ii,  §§  24-32. 

Florus Bk.  I,  cc.  vii-ix. 

PARALLEL   READING. 

Duruy c.  vi. 

Ihne Bk.   i,  c.  viii;    Bk.  II,  c.  i;    Early  Rome, 

cc.  x-xii. 
Mommsen.  .......   Bk.  11,  c.  i. 

Botsford c.  ii. 

How  and  Leigh   . . .  c.  v. 

Moray c.  vi. 

Myers c.  v. 

Pelham Bk.  11,  c.  i. 

Abbott c.  iii. 

Taylor Constitutional   and   Political   History    of 

Rome,  c-  »- 


CHAPTER    IV. 
THE    ROMAN    RELIGION.     ' 

Roman  Gods. — The  Romans,  like  all  the  ancient  peoples, 
believed  that  there  were  in  the  world  invisible  beings  whose 
power  was  much  greater  than  man's;  these  they  called  gods. 
They  believed  that  each  god  dwelt  in  a  certain  locality  and 
had  power  over  a  certain  class  of  phenomena. 

These  were  the  principal  Roman  gods: 

Jupiter,  god  of  light  and  of  storms,  the  god  that  hurled 
thunder;  he  was  considered  the  most  powerful  of  all.  The 
largest  temple  in  Rome,  built  on  the  Capitol,  was  conse- 
crated to  Jupiter  Maximus,  who  was  the  special  protector  of 
the  Roman  people.     Oaths  were  taken  in  his  name. 

Juno,  goddess  of  light,  watched  over  the  Roman  women. 
She  was  the  goddess  of  marriage  and  was  herself  later  repre- 
sented as  the  wife  of  Jupiter. 

Mars,  god  of  war,  father  of  the  Roman  people;  the  wolf 
was  his  sacred  animal.  The  Sabines  called  him  Quirinus- 
(a  Quirinus  was  also  worshipped  at  Rome). 

Vesta,  goddess  of  the  hearth. 

Janus,  who  was  represented  with  two  faces. 

Saturn,  god  of  the  Latins. 

Minerva,  goddess  of  wisdom. 

Vulcan,  god  of  the  forge,  protector  of  smiths. 

Neptune,  god  of  the  sea. 

Venus,  goddess  of  gardens. 

Ceres,  goddess  of  wheat-fields. 

Diai^a,  goddess  of  forests  and  of  the  chase. 

36 


THE  ROMAN  RELIGION.  Zl 

Liber,  god  of  the  vineyard. 

Mercury,  god  of  travellers  and  merchants. 

Orcus,  god  of  the  lower  world,  the  abode  of  departed 
souls. 

The  Earth,  the  Sun,  and  the  Moon  were  also  gods. 

There  were  spirits  hidden  in  the  trees,  springs,  and  rocks: 
sylvan  gods  and  Fauns  in  the  woods;  Nymphs  and  Camenae 
(Muses)  about  the  springs.  There  were  protecting  divinities 
for  cattle,  one  for  oxen  called  Bubona,  one  for  horses  called 
Equina,  and  one  for  sheep  called  Pales. 

Each  house  had  its  protecting  spirit,  the  Lar,  and  each 
man  his  accompanying  genius.  There  was  even  a  special 
divinity  for  each  part  of  the  house,  Forculus  for  the  door, 
Linientinus  for  the  threshold,  Cardea  for  the  hinges;  one 
for  each  act  in  life:  thus  when  a  child -was  weaned,  Educa 
and  Potina  taught  it  to  drink,  Cuba  to  put  itself  to  bed, 
Statanus  to  stand  upright,  Abeona  and  Adeona  to  walk, 
Fabulinus  to  speak;  when  it  went  to  school,  Iterduca  led 
it,  Domiduca  brought  it  home. 

Even  abstract  qualities  were  personified  as  divinities: 
Peace,  Victory,  Faith,  Hope,  Harmony,  Piety.  The  most 
venerated  was  Fortuna,  goddess  of  success;  temples  were 
erected  to  the  welfare  (Fortune)  of  the  state,  the  welfare  of 
woman,  the  welfare  of  the  army. 

The  Romans  did  not  attempt  to  give  form  to  their  gods; 
for  a  long  time  they  did  not  even  have  idols.  They  wor- 
shipped Mars  in  the  form  of  a  sword,  Quirinus  in  the  form 
of  a  lance,  Jupiter  in  the  form  of  a  stone.  Perhaps  they  did 
not  imagine  them  as  having  human  form;  they  did  not 
imagine  them  marrying  or  even  meeting  among  themselves, 
as  the  Greeks  did;  they  knew  no  stories  to  tell  of  them. 
They  called  them  numen  (manifestation),  and  it  was  enough 
for  them  that  these  gods  sometimes  made  themselves  mani- 
fest as  powerful  beings,  that  they  were  capable  of  great  evil 
or  of  great  good,  and  that,  therefore,  it  was  wise  to  win  their 
favor. 


38  THE  ROMAN  PEOPLE. 

Religion. — The  religion  of  the  Romans  rested  on  this 
idea.  It  was  an  exchange  of  services.  Man  brought  gifts 
to  the  god,  and  expected  the  god  to  render  him  a  service  in 
return. 

Articles  of  food  were  the  usual  form  of  offering;  milk  and 
wine  were  thrown  on  the  ground,  fruit  and  cakes  placed  on 
the  altar.  The  most  acceptable  offering  was  believed  to  be 
in  the  shape  of  animals,  especially  sheep,  swine,  and  oxen. 
The  animal  was  killed  with  a  form  of  ceremony;  and  this 
was  called  sacrifice. 

The  Romans  believed  that  the  gods  were  much  attached 
to  ancient  forms  and  that  a  change  in  them  would  incur  their 
wrath.  They  were  therefore  most  careful  to  observe  the  rites 
exactly. 

The  animal  to  be  sacrificed  must  be  faultless,  a  white  ox 
for  Jupiter,  a  black  sheep  for  a  divinity  of  the  lower  world. 
It  was  brought  before  the  altar,  which  was  a  mound  of  earth 
in  the  open  air.  Its  head  was  bound  with  cloths,  a  bowl  of 
salt  and  flour  sprinkled  over  it,  and  it  was  struck  with  an 
axe  or  a  knife  according  to  circumstance.  The  bones  and 
fat  were  then  placed  on  the  altar  and  burned. 

The  sacrifice  was  accompanied  by  a  prayer,  asking  aid  of 
the  god.  The  votary  stood,  clad  in  spotless  garments,  his 
head  covered  by  a  veil,  and  opened  his  prayer  by  calling 
upon  the  god. 

The  Romans  believed  that  the  gods  had  a  secret  name 
unknown  to  man.  "No  one,"  it  was  said,  "knows  the 
true  nam^s  of  the  gods."  In  calling  upon  a  god,  the  cus- 
tomary name  had  to  be  used,  but  with  some  such  precaution 
as  this:  "  O  Jupiter,  most  great,  most  good,  or  if  thou  dost 
prefer  another  name."  Then  followed  what  was  desired  of 
the  god,  expressed  in  very  clear  terms.  Great  care  was 
taken  always  to  address  the  god  that  was  believed  capable 
of  rendering  the  desired  service;  Ceres,  for  example,  for  a 
good  harvest,  Neptune  for  a  safe  passage  on  the  sea.  Varro 
said :  "It  is  as  useful  to  know  what  god  can  aid  us  in  various 


THE  ROMAN  RELIGION, 


39 


circumstances  as  to   know   where  our   carpenter  or  baker 
lives." 

Men  offered  sacrifices  and  prayers  for  the  success  of  their 
private  affairs.  The  Roman  government  offered  them  for 
the  success  of  public  enterprises.  Religious  ceremonies 
were  at  least  of  equal  importance  with  assemblies  and 
tribunals.  No  man  dared  undertake  anything  of  any  conse- 
quence without  a  ceremony  to  ask  a  successful  issue  of  the 
gods. 


A   SACRIFICB. 


Every  year,  at  certain  fixed  seasons,  festivals  were  cele- 
brated, designed  to  please  some  god  and  win  his  favor.  In 
the  spring  came  the  feast  of  Pales,  god  of  herds.  On  this 
day  the  people  purified  their  houses,  built  a  fire  of  straw 
and  leaped  over  it  thrice,  sacrificed  sheep  to  Pales  and  ate 
them. 

Priests. — There  were  at  Rome  persons  charged  with  the 
performance  of  certain  ceremonies  in  the  name  of  the  state; 
these  were  the  priests  or  sacer dotes.  They  were  arranged  in 
groups,  each  with  its  particular  function. 

The  fifteen  flamens  (lighters)  lighted  the  fire  on  the  altar 
and  made  the  sacrifice.      The  chief  lighters  were  the  fiamen 


40  THE  ROMAN  PEOPLE. 

of  Jupiter,  the  flamen  of  Quirinus,  and  the  flamen  of  Mars 
who  each  year  sacrificed  a  horse  to  Mars. 

The  twelve  Salii  ^  of  the  Palatine  watched  over  a  shield 
consecrated  to  Mars.  This  shield,  it  was  said,  had  fallen 
from  heaven  one  day,  and  was  venerated  like  a  god.  Eleven 
shiejds  had  betn  made  exactly  like  it  so  that  it  could  not  be 
stolen.  Every  year  the  Salii  conducted  a  ceremony  in  its 
honor;  they  brought  out  the  twelve  shields,  each  taking 
one,  and  executed  a  war-dance,  singing  a  hymn  in  honor  of 
Mamurius. 

The  Arval  Brothers  met  once  a  year  in  a  sacred  wood,  two 
miles  from  Rome,  and  danced  and  sang  a  hymn  to  the 
goddess  Dea  Dia,  praying  her  to  send  a  good  harvest. 

The  Lupercales  celebrated  the  Lupercalia  each  year  in 
honor  of  Faunus;  half  naked,  covered  only  with  goat-skins 
held  by  thongs,  they  ran  around  the  ancient  wall  of  the 
Palatine,  striking  the  women  that  they  met. 

The  Fetiales  were  employed  only  in  dealings  with  foreign 
peoples.  To  declare  war,  they  went  to  the  enemy's  frontier 
and  threw  a  javelin  over  the  border.  To  sign  a  treaty,  their 
leader  came  with  the  sacred  herb  from  the  Capitol,  a  sceptre, 
and  the  sacred  stone  from  the  temple  of  Jupiter  Feretrius; 
on  this  stone  (which  was  regarded  as  a  god)  he  swore  in  the 
name  of  the  people  to  observe  the  treaty.  He  then  killed  a 
hog.  2 

The  Vestal  Virgins,  young  daughters  of  the  great  Roman 
families,  guarded  the  fire  on  the  sacred  hearth  of  Vesta. 
They  lived  in  the  sanctuary  and  watched  the  fire  so  that  it 
should  never  go  out.  The  Vestal  who  let  the  fire  go  out 
was  whipped.  The  Vestals  had  the  place  of  honor  in  the 
theatre;  in  the  streets  every  one,  even  the  consul,  had  to 
give  place  to  them. 

1  There  were  twelve  Salii  Agonales  who  performed  a  similar  ceremony 
in  honor  of  Quirinus. 

2  Foedus  icere  (to  kill  the  hog)  has  thus  come  to  mean  to  conclude  a 
treaty. 


THE  ROMAN  RELIGION.  4i 

The  most  important  college  was  that  of  the  Pontiffs,  whose 
duty  was  to  control  religious  affairs.  They  regulated  the 
calendar,  that  is  to  say,  they  indicated  at  the  beginning  of 
each  year  when  the  various  festivals  should  be  held,  when 
the  courts  and  the  assemblies  should  sit,  the  fast-days,  and 
the  unhallowed  days,  when  any  sort  of  public  act  was  for- 
bidden by  religion. 

They  arranged  ceremonies  and  directed  the  celebration  of 
festivals  in  the  name  of  the  Roman  people.  When  the 
magistrate  or  the  senate  had  promised  a  temple  to  a  god  or 
a  festival  for  the  good  of  the  people,  the  pontiffs  received  the 
promise  in  the  name  of  the  god.  When  an  accident  gave 
rise  to  the  idea  that  some  god  was  vexed  with  the  Roman 
people  the  pontiffs  decided  what  ceremonies  should  be  cele- 
brated, what  victims  should  be  sacrificed,  that  the  god  might 
be  appeased. 

The  Pontifex  Maximus,  the  chief  of  the  pontiffs,  was  one 
of  the  first  men  in  Rome,  "  judge  and  arbiter  of  affairs  divine 
and  human."  He  even  watched  over  individuals  that  they 
should  not  neglect  the  celebration  of  ceremonies,  for  the 
state  was  believed  to  be  interested  in  the  proper  observance 
of  the  claims  of  the  gods. 

Hearth  Gods  and  the  Lares. — In  each  house  there  was  a 
sacred  hearth  at  which  the  family  worshipped.  Before 
beginning  a  meal  a  prayer  must  be  offered  and  a  little  wine 
(libation)  poured  on  it.  A  protecting  divinity,  the  lar 
familiaris,  was  believed  to  dwell  near  the  hearth,  and  food 
was  brought  to  him.  Near  the  hearth  stood  the  penates,  the 
little  household  gods. 

Rome  also  had  her  sacred  hearth  in  the  sanctuary  of 
Vesta,  and  in  this  same  sanctuary  her  idol,  the  Palladium. 

Departed  Souls. — The  Romans  believed  the  souls  of  the 
dead  to  be  powerful  spirits.  They  called  them  manes  (the 
good  gods),  and  believed  that  these  souls  needed  attention 
from  the  living. 

When  a  man  died,  his  body  was  laid  in  a  sanctuary  (the 


42 


THE  ROMAN  PEOPLE, 


tomb)  according  to  consecrated  form;  food  and  drink  were 
then  brought  to  him.  Wine  or  milk  was  thrown  on  the 
ground,  cakes  left  in  the  vases,  animals  were  killed  and  their 
flesh  roasted.  This  ceremony  was  repeated  every  year  by 
descendants  of  the  dead. 

If  souls  were  neglected,  they  became  evil  spirits  and  came 
back  to  frighten  and  torment  the  living.  They  were  called 
Lemures  or  Larvce.  In  May  of  each  year,  black  beans  were 
thrown  by  night  to  these  spirits. 

Augurs  and  Haruspices. — The  Romans  believed  that 
signs  or  presages  came  from  the  gods  to  indicate  their  will, 


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HARUSPEX    INSPECTING   THE    ENTRAILS. 


and  that  the  future  might  be  divined  by  the  interpretation 
of  these  signs.  Before  undertaking  a  matter  of  any  impor- 
tance, the  first  thing  was  to  consult  the  gods.  The  magistrate 
before  convoking  an  assembly,  the  general  before  engaging  in 
battle  or  crossing  a  river,  sought  to  read  these  signs;  this  was 
called  taking  the  auspices  {avis  and  specio). 

There  were  various  ways  of  doing  this:  some  men  watched 


THE  ROMAN  RELIGION.  43 

the  birds  that  passed  overhead ;  some  {haruspices)  sacrificed 
an  animal  and  examined  its  entrails;  some  brought  food  to 
the  sacred  chickens  belonging  to  the  state,  whose  refusal  to 
eat  indicated  clearly  that  the  gods  disapproved  the  enterprise. 

An  unasked-for  sign  was  supposed  to  be  sent  by  the  gods 
as  a  warning  to  discontinue  an  enterprise.  Unfavorable 
signs  were  such  as  a  trembling  of  the  earth,  a  storm,  a  flash 
of  lighting,  or  a  rat  running  across  the  road. 

Rome  had  a  special  body,  the  "public  augurs  of  the 
Roman  people,"  whose  duty  it  was  to  interpret  presages. 
The  augurs  decided  if  a  mistake  had  been  made  in  celebrat- 
ing a  ceremony;  in  this  case  it  had  to  be  begun  over  again. 
The  magistrate  was  accompanied  by  an  augur  who  told  him 
whether  a  sign  was  favorable  or  not. 

Greek  Rites. — The  Romans  from  earliest  times  have  bor- 
rowed beliefs  and  customs  from  their  neighbors,  the  Etruscans 
and  the  Greeks,  especially  the  Greeks  of  Cumae. 

They  began  to  worship  certain  of  the  Greek  gods,  Apollo, 
Latona,  Heracles,  whom  they  called  Hercules,  Castor  and 
Pollux.  They  worshipped  them  according  to  Greek  rites, 
with  head  uncovered  and  crowned  with  laurel. 

They  guarded  carefully  a  Greek  collection  of  sacred  verse, 

the  Sibylline  Books,  supposed  to  be  the  work  of  the  Sibyl  of 

Cumae.     This  Sibyl,  a  priestess  of  Apollo,  gave  oracles  in  a 

cave  near  Cumae. 

The  Sibyl,  it  was  said,  had  come  one  day  to  King  Tarquin, 
bringing  nine  sacred  books  which  she  offered  him  for  a  certain 
price.  The  king  demurred,  thinkin<r  the  price  too  high.  The 
Sibyl  threw  three  books  into  the  fire  and  doubled  the  price  for 
the  remaining  six.  The  king  refused,  and  said  she  was  making 
fun  of  him.  The  Sibyl  then  threw  three  more  books  into  the 
fire  and  again  doubled  the  price  for  the  three  that  were  left. 
The  king  reflected  and  finally  bought  the  three  books  at  the 
price  the  Sibyl  asked. 

A  body  of  priests,  first  two,  then  ten,  and  finally  fifteen, 
were  made  guardians  of  the  Sibylline  Books.  Only  in  time 
of  danger  were  the  books  consulted,  by  order  of  the  senate, 
and  the  guardians  declared  what  must  be  done 


44  THE  ROMAN  PEOPLE, 

When  the  Gauls  marched  on  Rome,  the  senate  had  the 
Sibylline  Books  consulted.  In  them  was  found  the  prophecy 
that  the  Gauls  would  take  possession  of  the  soil  of  tjie  city. 
Consequently,  that  the  prophecy  might  be  fulfilled,  the 
guardians  declared  that  the  Romans  must  bury  alive  in  the 
market-place  two  Gauls,  a  man  and  a  woman;  and  this  was 
done. 

*  The  Roman  priests  of  the  various  colleges  never  formed 
a  distinct  religious  caste.  A  man  might  hold  one  of  these 
sacred  offices  as  he  might  a  political  office,  and  for  a  limited 
time.  Indeed  the  ministries  of  religion  were  state  functions. 
Least  of  all  was  any  idea  of  special  sanctity  attached  to  the 
priests. 

PARALLEL   READING. 

Duruy cc.  iv,  v. 

Mommsen.  .  . .   Bk.  I,  c.  xii. 

Coulanges The  Ancient  City. 

Guerber Myths  of  Greece  and  Rome, 

Cicero On  the  Nature  of  the  Gods  ;  On  Divination, 


CHAPTER   V. 
ESTABLISHMENT   OF   LEGAL   EQUALITY. 

The  Plebeians. — The  inequality  between  patrician  and 
plebeian  persisted  under  the  consuls  as  under  the  kings. 
The  patricians,  descended  from  the  old  families  that  had 
always  governed  Rome,  preserved  the  right  of  being  elected 
magistrates  or  chosen  senators;  they  knew  the  ancient  forms 
that  were  employed  in  the  tribunals;  they  alone  could  marry 
according  to  their  own  peculiar  rites.  The  reason  was  that 
they  alone  could  practise  the  old  ceremonies  of  the  Roman 
religion,  take  the  necessary  auspices  before  holding  an 
assembly,  pronouncing  judgment,  or  celebrating  a  marriage. 

The  plebeians,  not  having  the  right  to  take  part  in  these 
ceremonies,  found  themselves  treated  as  outsiders  on  this 
account,  excluded  from  the  senate  and  its  functions,  unable 
to  marry  into  the  patrician  families,  or  even  to  obtain  justice. 

It  is  probable  that  almost  all  the  plebeians  were  of  foreign 
descent;  Rome,  as  fast  as  she  subjugated  the  neighboring 
towns,  seized  their  territory  and  annexed  their  inhabitants. 
But,  in  becoming  citizens  of  Rome,  they  did  not  become 
patricians;  they  became  plebeians,  and  plebeians  their 
descendants  remained,  inferior  to  the  descendants  of  the 
primitive  Romans. 

Among  these  plebeians  there  were  poor  people  who,  in 
hard  times,  borrowed  of  the  wealthy  patricians;  they  bound 
themselves  to  pay  the  sum  with  exorbitant  interest  (from 
twelve  to  twenty-five  per  cent).  When  a  man  could  not 
pay,  the  creditor  had  a  hold  on  his  persons  (nexus) ;  he  could 

45 


46  THE  ROMAN  PEOPLE. 

arrest  the  debtor,  imprison  him,  bind  him  with  chains,  and 
make  him  work  for  him. 

There  were,  on  the  other  hand,  plebeians  who  owned 
extensive  lands  and  wealth,  and  were  organized  in  gentes; 
these  were  people  whose  ancestors  had  been  governors  of 
some  Latin  city.  Thus  the  gens  Caecilia,  of  which  the 
wealthy  family  of  Metellus  was  a  branch,  claimed  descent 
from  Caeculus,  founder  and  king  of  Praeneste.  These 
plebeians  served  in  the  Roman  army  at  their  own  expense, 
and  lived  on  their  estates,  like  patricians.  The  only  differ- 
ence was  that  the  patricians  were  descended  from  an  old 
Roman  family,  and  the  plebeians  from  an  old  family  of 
another  city. 

These  plebeians,  dissatisfied  with  their  inferior  position, 
demanded  the  same  rights  as  the  patricians.  The  patricians 
were  much  fewer  in  number,  but  being  in  control  of  the 
government  they  refused  to  change  the  laws.  The  plebeians 
gradually  forced  them  to  yield  and  to  grant  them  one  by  one 
the  same  rights;  but  it  required  nearly  two  hundred  years 
(c.  500-300  B.C.)  before  they  gained  complete  equality. 

The  Romans  related  many  legends  of  the  struggles  during 
these  two  centuries,  but  nothing  is  known  definitely  more 
than  the  names  of  the  magistrates  and  some  dates. 

The  Secession. — The  legend  tells  the  beginning  of  the 
struggle  as  follows: 

Rome  was  making  war  on  the  Volsci.  The  consul,  Appius 
Claudius,  a  hard  and  insolent  man,  was  calling  the  roll  of  those 
who  were  to  serve  in  the  army,  when  suddenly  a  man  appeared 
in  the  public  square,  emaciated  and  covered  with  wounds.  He 
related  his  story  to  the  assembled  people :  "  he  had  been  a 
warrior  all  his  life,  had  taken  part  in  twenty-eight  battles,  and 
attained  the  rank  of  centurion.  His  enemies  had  burned  his 
house,  destroyed  his  crops,  and  driven  off  his  cattle ;  he  had 
borrowed  and  had  not  been  able  to  repay,  his  creditor  had  had 
him  placed  in  chains  and  beaten.  This  was  how  the  defenders 
of  the  country  were  rewarded."  Tlie  plebeians  were  indignant 
and  refused  to  be  enrolled.  The  other  consul  promised  to 
investigate  their  grievances  and  persuaded  them  to  go  to  the 
war.     But,  the   campaign   safely  over,  the   senate   refused   to 


ESTABLISHMENT  OF  LEGAL   EQUALITY.  47 

listen  to  the  plebeians,  and  the  consuls  led  the  people  on  an 
expedition. 

Once  out  of  the  city  tliC  plebeians  broke  away  from  the  patri- 
cians, and  went  up  on  a  mountain,'  where  they  fortified  them- 
selves and  declared  that  they  would  never  enter  Rome  again. 
Hot  cakes  were  brought  to  them  there  every  morning  by  a  god- 
dess, Anna  Perenna. 

The  senate  was  disturbed  at  the  sight  of  the  abandoned  city, 
and  sent  a  deputation  of  ten  former  consuls  to  ask  the  plebeians 
to  return.  One  of  the  envoys,  Menenius  Agrippa,  related  to 
them  the  following  fable :  "  Once  upon  a  time  the  Members 
refused  to  work  any  longer  for  the  Belly,  which  led  a  lazy  life 
and  grew  fat  upon  their  toils.  But  receiving  no  longer  any 
nourishment  from  the  Belly  they  soon  began  to  pine  away,  and 
found  it  was  to  the  Belly  that  they  owed  their  life  and  strength." 
The  plebeians  were  won  by  tliis  argument,  made  peace  with  the 
patricians,  and  came  back  to  Rome.  The  senate  permitted 
them  to  have  leaders  to  defend  them  (494  B.C.). 

The  Tribunes  of  the  People. — New  magistrates  were 
created  at  this  time  (493  b.c),  the  tribunes  of  the  people 
(of  the  pieSs,  or  lower  order) ;  two  at  first,  later  four,  and 
finally  ten.  They  were  plebeians,  elected  for  one  year, 
whose  duty  it  was  to  protect  plebeians  against  the  magis- 
trates. They  had  the  right  of  intervention.  If  ony  one,  even 
a  consul,  wished  to  arrest  a  plebeian,  the  tribune  might 
simply  plate  himself  before  the  threatened  man,  and  no  one 
dared  oppose  his  defence.  The  tribune  was  not  supported 
by  armed  lictors,  like  the  consul;  a  single  attendant  walked 
before  him  to  clear  the  way.  His  position  was  sustained  by 
religion  and  so  he  did  not  need  force.  Whoever  dared  to 
resist  a  tribune  of  the  people  was  sacrificed  to  the  gods  of 
the  lower  world,  that  is,  put  to  death  and  his  goods  confis- 
cated. 

A  tribune  could  not  leave  Rome  and  had  to  keep  his 
house  open  day  and  night  so  that  no  one  should  come  to 
him  in  vain.  His  rights  did  not  extend  beyond  the  city 
walls;  outside  the  city  the  consuls  remained  supreme. 

The  tribunes  increased  their  power  gradually.  They  could 
keep  the  senate  or  the  magistrates  from  adopting  measures 

*  Some  authorities  say  on  the  Aventine  hill,  others  on  the  Sacred  hill. 


48  THE  ROMAN  PEOPLE. 

they  thought  unwise,  by  simply  saying  'FeiOy  I  forbid.  A 
tribune's  veto  put  a  stop  to  any  action.  They  later  acquired 
the  right  to  sit  in  the  senate  and  take  part  in  its  deliberations. 
They  finally  gained  the  power  of  convoking  the  people  in 
assembly,  to  address  them,  and  even  to  call  for  a  vote.  ^ 
They  became  as  powerful  in  Rome  as  the  consuls. 

Legend  of  Coriolanus The  tribunes  of  the  people  began 

to  struggle  against  the  consuls  and  the  leading  patricians. 
In  twenty-six  years  they  are  said  to  have  accused  seven 
consuls  before  the  people.  To  this  same  period  belongs  the 
legend  of  Coriolanus. 

Marcius,  a  patrician  and  the  bravest  warrior  in  Rome,  sur- 
named  Coriolanus  because  he  had  taken  the  city  of  Corioli 
from  the  Volsci,  was  strongly  opposed  to  the  tribunes  and  the 
plebeians.  There  was  a  famine  in  Rome  and  the  senate  bought 
wheat  to  distribute  among  the  people.  Coriolanus  declared 
that  this  opportunity  must  be  seized  to  abolish  the  tribunate. 
"  No  wheat  or  no  tribunes."  The  tribune  accused  Coriolanus 
before  the  people,  and  he  was  condemned  to  exile. 

Coriolanus  went  to  the  Volsci,  whom  he  had  conquered,  and 
offered  to  lead  them  against  Rome.  The  Volsci  gave  him  an 
army.  He  conquered  the  Romans,  encamped  near  the  city, 
and  ravaged  the  lands  of  the  plebeians.  The  frightened  Romans 
sent  to  him  first  the  consuls,  then  the  priests,  to  beg  him  to 
spare  his  country.     He  refused  to  listen  to  them. 

The  women  of  Rome  sought  out  his  mother,  Veturia,  and  all 
together  marched  to  the  enemy's  camp.  Coriolanus  saw  the 
procession  coming,  led  by  his  mother  and  his  wife  leading  his 
two  children  by  the  hand.  He  went  to  meet  them,  and  ordered 
the  fasces  lowered  as  a  mark  of  respect.  His  wife  wept;  his 
mother  simply  said:  "Am  I  speaking  to  my  son  or  to  an 
enemy .^"  Coriolanus,  much  moved,  withdrew  with  the  Vol- 
scian  army  and  died  in  exile,  some  say  by  execution,  some  by  his 
own  hand. 

About  this  time  the  people  adopted  a  number  of  laws. 
One  law  ^  deprived  the  consul  of  the  right  to  sentence  citizens 
to  death  v/ithout  trial  and  gave  the  accused  the  right  to 
appeal  to  the  people;  the  consul  might  still   impose  a  fine, 

\}  See  Appendix  A  for  a  discussion  of  the  nature  of  these  plebeian  as- 
semblies.] 

[2  In  the  first  year  of  the  republic,  509  B.C.] 


ESTABLISHMENT  OF  LEGAL  EQUALITY.  49 

however.  Another  law  hmited  fines  to  thirty  oxen  and  two 
sheep.  ^  Another  forbade  interrupting  a  tribune  while  he 
was  speaking  in  the  assembly. 

The  Decemvirs. — Hitherto  Roman  judges  had  dealt  with 
cases  according  to  custom,  there  being  no  written  laws. 
Now  the  judges  were  patricians;  ihey  alone  knew  the 
customs  and  could  apply  them  as  they  wished.  The  tribunes 
proposed  formulation  of  the  laws,  that  every  citizen  might 
be  acquainted  with  them.  The  patricians  resisted  at  first; 
it  is  said  that  they  even  came  to  blows  and  that  a  foreigner, 
a  Latin  named  Herdonius,  took  advantage  of  the  opportunity 
offered  by  this  dissension,  entered  Rome  with  a  troop  of 
slaves  and  seized  the  citadel  on  the  Capitoline  hill  (460  B.C.), 
whence  he  was  driven  only  through  the  aid  of  the  dictator 
of  another  Latin  city  (Tusculum). 

The  senate  finally  accepted  the  proposition,  and  sent  three 
men  into  foreign  countries  to  study  the  laws  best  suited  to 
Rome.  It  then  appointed  ten  patricians  who  were  called 
decemvirs  (ten  men).  They  were  charged  with  a  double  duty : 
to  prepare  the  new  laws  and  to  govern  the  city;  all  other 
powers,  consuls,  and  tribunes  were  suppressed.  The  decem- 
virs governed  in  turn,  each  for  a  day,  and  accompanied  for 
that  day  by  twelve  lictors  (451  B.C.). 

At  the  end  of  a  year,  the  work  being  still  incomplete,  new 
decemvirs  were  elected. 

Laws  of  the  Twelve  Tables. — The  laws  prepared  by  the 
decemvirs  were  written  on  twelve  tables  of  stone;  they  were 
set  up  in  the  public  square  that  all  might  become  acquainted 
with  them,  and  then  placed  in  the  Capitol.  These  laws  were 
applied  for  centuries  and  were,  says  Cicero,  "the  source  of 
all  Roman  law."  They  were  written  in  short,  crisp,  im- 
perious sentences.-^  The  old  Roman  customs  in  all  their 
crudity  were  set  down  in  law. 

The  father  of  the  family,    during  his  lifetime,   had   the 

[^  Some  authorities  say  two  oxen  and  thirty  sheep.  ^ 
'  We  know  only  a  few  lines  of  them. 


50  THE  ROMAN  PEOPLE. 

power  of  life  and  death  over  his  children.  He  might  cause 
them  to  be  abandoned  at  birth ;  he  might  sell  them  three 
times  over.  His  wife  was  completely  in  his  power;  he  might 
cast  her  off  or  put  her  to  death.  A  woman  was  never  free; 
as  a  girl  she  belonged  to  her  father  and  must  take  the 
husband   he  chose  for  her;  as  a  wife  she  belonged  to  her 


AS,    HALF    SIZE, 

(Primitive  Roman  Coin.) 

nusband ;  should  she  become  a  widow,  she  must  obey  her 
husband's  heir. 

The  law  condemned  to  death  whosoever  should,  by  magic 
words,  cause  his  neighbor's  crops  to  come  to  his  own  fields; 
for  the  Romans  believed  in  sorcery. 


ESTABLISHMENT  OF  LEGAL  EQUALITY.  51 

The  insolvent  debtor  was  to  be  thus  treated:  **  He  shall 
be  bound  with  thongs  and  chains  weighing  not  more  than 
fifteen  pounds.^  ...  At  the  end  of  sixteen  days  he  shall  be 
sold  beyond  the  Tiber.  If  he  has  many  creditors,  he  shall 
be  cut  in  pieces." 

The  new  feature  of  these  laws  was  that  they  were  known 
to  all  and  that  they  were  the  same  for  all  citizens,  patrician 
or  plebeian. 

Fall  of  the  Decemvirs. — The  decemvirs  changed  their 
policy  the  second  year.  They  followed  the  most  violent  one 
among  them,  Appius  Claudius.  Each  had  twelve  lictors,  so 
that  their  combined  forces  were  one  hundred  and  twenty. 
Their  insolence  made  them  hated  by  all,  and  when  they  had 
completed  the  laws  they  refused  to  retire  from  office.  They 
were  finally  driven  out  (449  b.c.)  by  a  revolution  concerning 
which  we  have  only  a  legend. 

Appius  Claudius  had  noticed  a  beautiful  young  girl  named 
Virginia,  daughter  of  Virginius  and  betrothed  to  Icilius,  both 
plebeians  of  l)igh  standing.  He  sent  one  of  his  clients  to  de- 
mand her  as  his  slave.  The  client  took  the  case  to  the  courts. 
Virginia  wept ;  her  lover  protested  ;  but  Claudius,  who  was 
acting  as  judge,  gave  the  girl  provisionally  into  the  custody  of 
his  client  and  postponed  a  decision  lill  the  next  day. 

Virginius  was  away  from  Rome  with  the  army  ;  a  messenger 
hurried  to  him,  and  the  next  morning  he  presented  himself  at 
the  tribunal.  Claudius  refused  to  hear  him,  declared  Virginia 
to  be  the  client's  slave,  and  gave  orders  to  seize  her.  Virginius 
led  his  daughter  to  a  butcher's  stall  and  plunged  a  knife  into 
her  breast.  Hastening  back  to  the  camp  he  told  his  story  to 
his  comrades,  roused  their  indignation,  and  led  them  back  to 
Rome.     The  decemvirs  were  alarmed  and  abdicated. 

Appius  Claudius  killed  himself  in  prison  ;  the  other  decemvirs 
were  exiled  cind  their  goods  confiscated.' 

^  The  Roman  pound  was  lighter  than  ours. 

['  The  view  that  makes  Appius  Claudius  a  haughty  and  cruel  tyrant 
is  not  universally  accepted.  Some  historians  see  in  him  rather  a  sincere 
patriot  who  desired  to  harmonize  the  interests  of  both  orders.  He  suc- 
ceeded in  pleasing  neither,  and  died  a  martyr  to  a  lofty  purpose.  The 
legend  of  Virginia  is,  in  this  view  of  his  work,  treated  as  a  patrician 
attempt  to  blacken  his  character.  Compare  the  parallel  readings  sug- 
gested at  the  end  of  the  chapter.] 


52  THE  ROMAN  PEOPLE. 

Marriage  Law. — Plebeians  could  not  contract  marriages 
with  patricians,  and  the  decemvirs  had  inscribed  this  prohibi- 
tion in  the  last  of  their  tables. 

A  tribune  of  the  people,  Canuleius  by  name,  proposed  a 
law  permitting  marriages  between  patricians  and  plebeians 
and  had  it  adopted  (445  B.C.).  Legendary  accounts  tell  us 
that  the  senate  was  strongly  opposed  to  it  and  that  the 
plebeians  forced  its  acceptance  by  resorting  to  the  Janiculum 
again. 

Military  Tribunes  with  Consular  Power. — The  tribunes 
also  demanded  that  plebeians  should  be  eligible  as  consuls. 
Religion  forbade  it;  for,  before  electing  a  consul,  the  gods 
must  be  consulted  by  taking  the  auspices,  that  is  to  say,  by 
watching  the  flight  of  birds.  Now  religion  forbade  taking 
auspices  in  the  name  of  a  plebeian,  and  so  the  patricians  said 
that  the  gods  would  have  none  but  a  patrician  for  consul. 
As  a  compromise  the  election  of  consuls  was  then  suspended 
and  in  their  place  new  officers  were  elected  for  one  year 
without  taking  the  auspices.  They  were  called  "  military 
tribunes  with  consular  power,  "  and  their  number  varied  from 
three  to  six.  They  commanded  the  army,  while  a  "  prefect 
of  the  city"  governed  Rome.  Occasionally  the  consuls 
were  restored.  These  tribunes  were  all  patricians  until 
400  B.C.,  when  four  plebeians  were  elected. 

The  Censors. — In  this  same  year  (445  B.C.)  two  new 
magistrates  were  created;  these  were  the  censors,  elected 
once  in  four  years  to  take  the  census,  that  is,  to  make  a  list 
of  all  the  citizens,  and  to  farm  out  the  lands  and  revenues 
of  the  state.     Patricians  only  could  be  censors.^ 

The  Plebeian  Consuls.  —  Many  years  passed  before 
plebeians  were  admitted  to  the  consulate.  Finally  it  was 
decided  that  one  consul  should  always  be  a  plebeian 
(366  B.C.).     The  silly  legend  runs  as  follows: 

A  patrician,  Fabius  Ambustus,  had  given  his  two  daughters 
in  marriage,  the  elder  to  Sulpicius,  a  patrician,  the  younger  to 

1  See  Chapter  XII  for  the  work  of  the  censors  in  the  second  century. 


ESTABLISHMENT  OF  LEGAL  EQUALITY.  53 

Licinius,  a  plebeian.  One  day  when  the  two  sisters  were 
together  in  the  house  of  Sulpicius,  a  knock  came  at  the  door. 
The  younger  sister  was  frightened  and  asked  who  was  there. 
The  elder  sister  began  to  laui;h.  Her  husband,  Sulpicius,  being 
a  magistrate,  a  lictor  always  announced  his  arrival  by  striking 
the  door  with  his  fasces.  The  younger  sister,  having  married  a 
plebeian,  was  ignorant  of  this  custom.  She  was  greatly  humili- 
ated and  saddened  to  think  she  wculd  never  see  her  husband 
escorted  by  a  lictor.  She  told  her  grief  to  her  father,  and  he 
promised  her  the  same  dignities  that  her  sister  enjoyed.  He 
then  consulted  with  his  son-iti-law,  Licinius,  who  was  a  tribune 
of  the  people.  The  latter  proposed  a  law  providing  that  in 
future  one  of  the  two  consuls  should  be  a  plebeian  (376).  The 
senate  refused,  and  for  ten  years  Licinius  and  his  friend  Sextius 
were  reelected  tribunes.  Finally  the  patricians  yielded ;  the 
law  was  passed  and  Sextius  wa.;  elected  consul. 

After  this,  at  least  one  of  the  consuls  was  always  a  plebeian 
and  sometimes  both.^ 

The  Praetorship. — At  the  same  time  that  one  of  the  con- 
sulships was  granted  to  the  plebeians,  a  new  magistrate  was 
created,  the  praetor.  He  was  charged  with  the  administra- 
tion of  justice.  In  the  absence  of  the  consuls,  he  was  also 
empowered  to  convoke  the  senate  or  the  assembly,  and  even 
to  command  an  army.  He  was  at  first  alone  in  office,  but 
later  shared  his  duties  with  another;  both  were  necessarily 
patricians. 

The  Assembly  of  Tribes  and  the  Plebiscite. — While 
these  struggles  were  going  on,  the  tribunes  of  the  people  had 
set  up  a  new  form  of  assembly,  the  assembly  of  tribes,  or 
comitia  tributa.  It  was  not  necessary  to  take  the  auspices 
before  convoking  it;  the  tribune  simply  announced  the  day 
on  which  it  should  meet. 

It  met  in  the  Forum  (the  market-place)  on  a  market-day 
when  the  peasants  were  all  in  town.  The  tribune  addressed 
the  people,  then  asked  their  advice.  The  citizens  voted  by 
grouping  in  tribes.     The  territory  of  Rome  was  divided  into 

^  Some  Roman  historians  tell  us  of  the  laws  of  Licinius  on  the  consul- 
ate and  the  division  of  the  land.  It  is  not  certain  that  these  laws  ever 
existed. 


54  THE  ROMAhl  PEOPLE, 

tribes,  or  communities,  similar  to  the  cantons  of  modern 
France;  in  this  way  each  man  voted  with  his  neighbor.  The 
decision  given  by  this  assembly  was  called  the  plebiscite 
(decision  of  the  plebs). 

The  patricians  were  at  length  obliged  to  accept  these 
decisions.  It  was  settled  ^  that  a  plebiscite  voted  by  the 
people  assembled  in  tribes  was  as  binding  as  a  law  passed  by 
the  old  assembly.  There  was  no  longer  any  difference 
between  plebiscite  and  law.^ 

Establishment  of  Political  Equality. — Little  by  little  all 
the  patrician  privileges  were  done  away  wi;;h.  The  plebeians 
were  given  the  right  to  be  elected  censors  (338  B.C.),  praetors 
(337  B.C.),  pontiffs  and  augurs  (300  B.C.),  and  finally 
pontifex  maximus.  They  were  eligible  to  all  but  certain  old 
religious  offices  which  religion  permitted  only  patricians  to 
perform. 

Debtors  were  no  longer  obliged  to  pledge  their  persons; 
they  risked  only  imprisonment  and  sale  by  their  credi- 
tors. 

All  citizens  were  from  this  time  of  equal  political  rights. 
The  remaining  distinctions  were  not  those  of  patrician  and 
plebeian  but  of  rich  and  poor,  of  office-holder  and  private 
individual. 

SOURCES. 

Gicero On    the    Com  monwealth,    Bk.     il. 

§§  33-44. 

Livy Bks.  ii-iv. 

Eutropius Bk.  I,  §§  18,  23. 

Plutarch Coriolanus. 

Florus Bk.  i,  cc.  xxii-xxvi. 

*  The  Romans  recognized  three  laws  that  had  given  the  force  of 
law  to  the  plebiscite,  the  laws  of  449,  339,  and  287  B.C.;  it  is  possible 
that  the  first  of  these  had  not  been  applied. 

2  [See  Appendix  .  .  .  for  a  statement  of  the  relation  of  this  assembly  or 
concilium  plebis  to  the  various  comitia. 


ESTABLISHMENT  OF  LEGAL   EQUALITY.  55 

PARALLEL   READING. 

Duruy cc.  vi-ix. 

Ihne Bk.     ii,    cc.    ii,    vii-xiii  ;     Early    Rome, 

cc.  xiii-xiv,  xviii,  xix. 

Monimsen   Bk.  ii,  cc.  i-iii. 

Abbott Rotnan  PoUtical  Institutions,  c.  iv. 

Botsford c.  iv. 

Green idge Roman  Public  Ltje,  c.  ii. 

How  and   Leigh....  c.  vi. 

Morey cc.  vii-ix. 

Myers c.  v. 

Felhani.   Bk.  II,  c.  i. 

Sliuckburgh c  viii. 


':hapter  VI. 

CONQUEST   OF   ITALY. 

Rome  and  Italy. — In  the  eighth  century  before  Christ, 
the  Roman  people  possessed  only  the  city  on  the  Palatine 
and  some  square  miles  of  the  surrounding  territory.  In 
266  B.C.  Rome  was  mistress  of  all  Italy, ^  from  the  Apennines 
on  the  north  to  Sicily  on  the  south,  and  had  become  one  of 
the  greatest  cities  of  the  world. 

This  change  had  taken  place  in  five  centuries.  The 
Romans  had  attacked  the  peoples  of  Italy  one  by  one; 
sometimes  defeated,  they  finally  overcame  and  subdued  all 
rivals. 

During  these  five  centuries  Rome  had  been  continually  at 
war.  The  temple  of  Janus,  whose  door  was  closed  in  time 
of  peace,  had  been  always  open.  But  of  the  history  of  these 
wars  we  know  very  little;  the  Romans  themselves  knew  little 
of  the  conquest  of  Italy  beyond  a  few  facts,  mingled  with 
many  legends. 

Conquest  of  Latium. — The  Romans  had  begun  by  sub- 
jugating their  nearest  neighbors,  the  peoples  of  Latium.  A 
legend  runs  thus: 

After  Tarquin  had  been  expelled  from  Rome  the  Latins  took 
up  his  cause  and  fought  a  great  battle  with  the  Romans  near 
Lake  Regillus  (496  B.C.).  During  the  battle,  two  warriors  on 
white  horses  were  seen  fighting  at  the  head  of  the  Romans ; 
they  were  the  first  to  reach  the  camp  of  the  enemy.  The 
Romans,  aroused  by  their  example,  put  the  Latins  to  flight. 

The  general  wished  to  reward  the  two  heroes,  but  no  one 

1  What  we  call  northern  Italy  was  then  Cisalpine  Gaul;  the  Italy  of 
the  ancients  reached  only  to  the  Apennines. 

56 


CONQUEST  OF  ITALY.  57 

could  find  them.  At  Rome  on  the  evening  of  the  battle,  people 
saw  two  warriors  covered  with  blood  and  dust  washing  their 
arms  in  Juno's  fountain.  The  strangers  announced  the  Roman 
victory.  They  were  the  demi-gods  Castor  and  Pollux,  the  two 
horsemen  who  had  fought  for  the  Romans.  The  Roman  peo- 
ple, to  show  their  gratitude,  built  them  a  temple.  On  a  rock  in 
the  battle-field  was  found  the  hoof-print  of  a  gigantic  horse. 

An  old  treaty  between  the  Romans  and  the  Latins,  graven 
on  a  pillar  of  bronze,  said:  "  There  shall  be  peace  between 
Rome  and  the  Latins  as  long  as  the  heavens  shall  be  above 
the  earth  and  the  earth  under  the  heavens.  They  shall  not 
take  up  arms  against  one  another;  the  one  shall  not  allow 
an  enemy  of  the  other  to  pass  through  its  territory.  Each 
shall  aid  the  other  with  all  its  might  "  (493  b.c). 

All  booty  and  conquests  were  to  be  equally  divided 
between  the  Romans  and  the  Latins. 

Legend  of  Porsenna. — About  the  same  time  Porsenna, 
king  of  the  Etruscan  city  of  Clusium,  defeated  the  Romans 
in  battle  and  laid  siege  to  Rome;  but  accounts  differ  as  to 
the  manner  in  which  this  war  was  brought  to  a  close. 

According  to  some  historians  Porsenna  took  Rome  and 
brought  the  Romans  into  subjection.  The  senate  sent  him  the 
symbols  of  royal  power,  ivory  throne,  sceptre,  and  crown.  The 
Romans  lost  all  the  territory  they  had  north  of  the  Tiber,  and 
Porsenna  forbade  them  to  have  any  implements  of  iron  except 
farming  tools  (507  B.C.). 

According  to  another  story  Porsenna,  having  come  to  restore 
the  Tarquins,  was  stopped  in  front  of  Rome.  A  brave  warrior, 
Horatius  Codes  (the  one-eyed),  fought  single-handed  against 
the  Etruscan  army  on  the  wooden  bridge  across  the  Tiber,  until 
the  Romans  had  time  to  cut  the  bridge  behind  him ;  then 
threw  himself  into  the  water  with  his  armor  on  and  swam  safely 
back  to  the  city.  The  grateful  people  erected  a  statue  in  his 
honor. 

Porsenna  laid  siege  to  Rome.  Mucins,  a  young  Roman,  re- 
solved one  day  to  sacrifice  himself  to  save  his  country.  He 
went  out  of  the  city  with  a  dagger  hidden  in  his  clothes  and 
joined  the  crowd  that  surrounaed  Porsenna.  A  secretary  sit- 
ting at  the  kind's  side  was  busy  paying  the  Etruscan  soldiers 
their  wages.  Mucins,  taking  him  for  the  king,  slew  him  with  a 
blow  of  his  dagger.  He  was  arrested  and  brought  before  King 
Porsenna.  "  It  was  you  1  meant  to  slay,"  said  he;  "  1  made  a 
mistake ;  but  there  are  left  three  hundred  young  men  in  Rome 


58  THE  ROMAN  PEOPLE. 

who  have  sworn  to  do  the  same  as  I."  Then,  to  show  him  that 
a  Roman  fears  neither  death  nor  pain,  he  put  his  right  hand  in 
a  fire  that  had  been  lighted  for  a  sacrifice  and  let  it  burn  there 
without  showing  any  consciousness  of  pain.  Porsenna  was  im- 
pressed and  alarmed  ;  released  Mucius,  who  ever  after  bore  the 
name  of  Scaevola  (the  left-handed),  and  offered  peace  to  the 
Romans. 

Wars  against  the  Volscians,  .^quians,  and  Veientines. 

— Rome  had  as  neighbors:  on  the  east  the  ^quians,  who 
lived  in  the  mountains;  on  the  south  the  Volscians,  divided 
into  several  small  communities,  inhabiting  a  fertile  plain; 
on  the  northwest  the  Etruscan  people  of  Veii,  living  near  the 
Tiber.  Rome  made  war  on  these  neighbors  for  nearly  two 
centuries,  usually  with  the  help  of  her  allies,  the  Latins. 

The  Romans  preserved  but  little  history  of  these  wars,  but 
they  told  stories  of  several  famous  warriors.  We  have  already 
noted  (see  page  48)  the  legend  of  Coriolanus.  Here  is  the 
legend  of  Cincinnatus: 

Quintius  Cincinnatus  was  so  beloved  that  he  was  called  the 
father  of  his  soldiers.  He  had  conquered  the  ^quians,  taken 
Antium,  rescued  a  Roman  army  that  was  surrounded  by  the 
^quians,  and  recovered  the  Capitol  from  bandits  who  had 
taken  it  by  surprise.  He  was  several  times  consul  and  even 
dictator  ;  he  was  the  leading  man  in  Rome. 

One  day  there  came  tidings  to  Rome  that  the  army  fighting 
the  iEquians  had  been  surrounded  in  a  mountain-pass  and  was 
about  to  be  captured.  Quintius  alone  was  able  to  extricate  it. 
The  senate  sent  for  him.  The  messengers  found  him  in  his 
field  near  the  Tiber  digging  a  ditch,  wearing  only  his  tunic  and 
leaning  on  his  spade.  In  order  to  receive  the  messengers  of  the 
senate  fittingly  he  washed  himself  and  put  on  his  toga,^  which 
his  wife  brought  to  him.  The  messengers  then  greeted  him  as 
"  master  of  the  people"  and  urged  him  to  come  with  all  speed. 
He  jumped  into  a  boat  and  was  soon  in  the  city. 

The  next  morning  at  dawn  he  went  down  to  the  square, 
closed  all  the  shops,  and  ordered  all  the  citizens  to  appear  on  tiie 
Campus  Martins  in  the  evening,  each  with  his  arms,  five  stakes, 
and  five  days'  rations.  He  set  out  the  same  evening,  covered 
the  six  leagues  in  four  hours,  and  all  around  the  enemy's  camp 
dug  a  ditch  and  made  a  palisade.  The  ^quians  thus  shut  in 
were   forced  to  surrender.      Quintius  then  returned  with  the 

^  The  toga  was  the  dress  worn  in  public. 


CONQUEST  OF  ITALY.  59 

Roman  army  which  he  had  rescued.     At  the  end  of  a  fortnight 
he  resigned  his  office  and  returned  to  his  farm  (458  B.C.). 

This  is  the  legend  of  The  Fabii : 

The  Fabian  family  governed  Rome  for  several  years; '  at  last 
the  people  thought  them  too  powerful  and  drove  them  from 
Rome.  At  that  time  the  Romans  were  at  war  with  the  people 
of  Veii.  The  Fabii  resolved  to  sacrifice  themselves  in  their 
country's  cause  against  Veii.  Taking  with  them  their  clients, 
they  encamped  over  against  Veii  on  a  steep  hill  near  the  river 
Cremera.  From  this  fortified  position  they  ravaged  the 
country  of  the  enemy.  They  numbered  three  hundred  and  six 
patricians  and  more  than  six  thousand  clients.  One  day  they 
were  surprised  by  the  enemy,  and  at  the  end  of  a  day's  fighting^ 
were  all  slain.  Of  the  whole  family  there  remained  but  a  child' 
who  had  been  left  at  Rome  on  account  of  his  extreme  youth 
(477  B.C.). 

Capture  of  Veii. — The  Veientines  had  been  among  the 
most  powerful  enemies  of  Rome.  Their  capital,  Veii,  built 
on  a  steep  rock  and  surrounded  by  a  thick  wall,  was  only  four 
leagues  from  Rome.  The  people  of  Veii  had  only  to  cross 
the  Tiber  in  order  to  ravage  the  lands  of  the  Romans.  Once 
they  had  even  taken  the  Janiculum. 

For  more  than  a  half -century  there  had  been  no  war 
between  the  two  states.  When  war  again  broke  out  between 
them  (405  B.C.)  it  was  a  war  of  extermination.  The  Roman 
army  encamped  before  Veii.  Up  to  that  time  Roman 
soldiers  had  served  at  their  own  cost  and  had  always  returned 
to  their  homes  in  winter.  The  government  now  decided  to 
pay  soldiers  wages  and  to  keep  them  in  camp  through  the 
winter  in  order  to  push  the  war.  The  siege  is  said  to  have 
lasted  ten  years.  The  men  of  Veii  called  on  the  other 
Etruscan  peoples  to  come  to  their  help;  but  these  declared 
their  alliance  at  an  end  and  stayed  at  home.  Veii  was  taken, 
its  people  massacred  or  sold;  their  territory  was  divided  and 
the  city  itself  was  left  desolate. 

Legend  of  Camillus. — As  to  the  capture  of  Veii  and  the 
general  who  captured  it,  many  stories  are  told. 

-  For  seven  years  all  the  consuls  were  Fabii. 


6o  THE  ROMAN  PEpPLE. 

The  Romans  besieged  Veil  ten  years  without  being  able  to 
take  it.  Camillus,  a  patrician,  famed  for  his  courage,  was  chosen 
dictator  and  entrusted  with  the  direction  of  the  siege.  He 
secretly  caused  a  passage  to  be  dug  underground,  passing  under 
the  wall  of  Veii  and  ending  beneath  the  citadel  at  the  spot 
where  stood  the  temple  of  Juno,  the  protecting  goddess  of  Veii. 
When  the  work  was  done  he  ordered  his  army  to  attack  the 
wall,  and  while  the  besieged  were  engaged  in  meeting  the  assault 
a  detachment  of  Romans  went  through  the  passage  and  came 
beneath  Juno's  temple.  At  that  moment  the  king  of  Veii  had 
just  offered  a  sacrifice.  The  Romans  heard  the  soothsayer  de- 
clare, after  having  surveyed  the  entrails  of  the  animal :  "  The 
gods  will  give  victory  to  him  who  shall  offer  these  entrails." 
Then  the  Romans  rushed  from  the  passage  shouting  and  beat- 
ing their  arms,  drove  off  the  men  of  Veii,  seized  the  entrails  and 
carried  them  to  Camillus,  who  completed  the  sacrifice.  So  was 
the  city  taken. 

Camillus  had  promised  to  build  for  Juno,  the  goddess  of  Veii, 
a  temple  on  the  Aventine.  But  nobody  dared  touch  the  image 
of  the  goddess.  Camillus  caused  some  young  nobles  to  come 
from  Rome  robed  as  for  a  festival,  and,  placing  his  hand  on  the 
image,  asked  the  goddess  whether  she  was  willing  to  leave  Veii 
and  take  up  her  abode  at  Rome.  Then  the  image  was  heard  to 
say,  "I  am  willing,"  and.  of  her  own  accord  she  followed  the 
Romans. 

Camillus  entered  Rome  as  a  victor  on  a  chariot  drawn  by  four 
white  horses,  a  thing  that  ought  to  have  been  reserved  for  the 
god  Jupiter  himself.  He  had  promised  to  give  the  god  Apollo 
a  tenth  part  of  the  booty  taken  at  Veii,  and  as  a  result  every 
soldier  had  to  give  up  a  tenth  of  his  share.  For  this  Camillus 
was  compelled  to  pay  a  fine,  and  he  left  Rome.  As  he  was 
going  away  he  prayed  the  gods,  if  his  fellow  citizens  had  con- 
demned him  unjustly,  to  make  them  repent  of  their  injustice. 

Invasion  of  the  Gauls. — About  this  time  the  wars  against 
the  Gauls  began.  Long  before  this  Gauls  had  settled  in  the 
north  of  Italy.  Their  ancestors  had  come  from  the  country 
that  is  to-day  France.^  They  had  crossed  the  Alps  and 
conquered  the  great  valley  of  the  Po,  whicK  thenceforward 
bore  the  name  of  Gaul.  They  then  had  advanced  to  the 
shores  of  the  Adriatic  as  far  as  Ancona.  They  spoke  the 
same  language  as  the  Gauls  of  France,  a  Celtic  speech  like 

*  The  Romans  gave  to  France  the  name  of  Gallia  Transalpina  (beyond 
the  Alps).  They  called  the  region  of  the  Po  where  the  Gallic  invaders 
had  settled  Gallia  Cisalpina  (this  side  of  the  Alps). 


CONQUEST  OF  ITALY,  6i 

that  of  the  Irish  and  the  Bretons.  Their  tribes  bore  the 
same  names  as  some  of  the  tribes  in  what  is  now  France. 
One  of  these  Gallic  tribes,  the  Senones,*  living  in  the  moun- 
tains near  the  Adriatic,  attacked  Clusium,  an  Etruscan  town. 
The  Romans  took  the  part  of  Clusium  and  this  brought  on 
war.     The  legendary  account  of  the  affair  runs  thus : 

Thirty  thousand  Senones  came  to  Clusium  asking  for  lands 
whereon  to  settle.  The  people  of  Clusium  refused,  and  called 
on  the  Romans  for  help.  Rome  sent  three  Fabii  to  warn  the 
Gauls  against  breaking  the  peace.  The  Gallic  chief  answered 
them  :  "  Although  this  is  the  first  time  that  we  have  heard  of  the 
Romans,  we  believe  that  they  are  brave  men,  since  the  people 
of  Clusium  have  asked  help  of  them.  We  shall  be  glad  to  keep 
peace  on  condition  that  the  people  of  Clusium,  who  have  too 
much  land,  give  a  part  of  it  to  us.  If  they  refuse,  we  shall  fight, 
and  the  envoys  can  tell  Rome  how  much  the  Gauls  are  braver 
than  other  men."  One  of  the  envoys,  Fabius  Ambustus,  asked  : 
"  By  what  right  do  ye  attack  Clusium.^"  The  Gaul  replied: 
"  Our  right  we  carry  on  the  point  of  our  swords.  Everything 
belongs  to  the  brave." 

There  was  a  battle.  The  three  Fabii  fought  in  the  army  of 
Clusium;  Fabius  Ambustus  slew  a  Gallic  chiet  and  took  his 
armor.  The  Gauls  asked  Rome  to  punish  the  Fabii  because, 
having  come  to  them  as  ambassadors,  they  ought  not  to  have 
fought  against  them.  The  people  refused,  and  even  chose  the 
three  Fabii  as  commanders.  The  Gauls  tiien  came  down  along 
the  banks  of  the  Tiber  without  attacking  or  plundering  any  of 
the  territory  through  which  they  passed,  saying  that  their  only 
quarrel  was  with  the  Romans. 

Battle  of  the  AUia. — The  Gauls  met  the  Roman  army 
eleven  miles  from  Rome  at  the  bank  of  the  little  river  Allia. 
The  Romans  were  disastrously  defeated. 

Siege  of  the  Capitol  (390  b.c). — They  retreated,  and 
made  no  attempt  to  defend  their  city,  but  confined  their 
efforts  to  defending  the  citadel  of  the  Capitol,  which  was  built 
on  a  steep  rock  and  was  easy  to  defend.  The  senate,  the 
magistrates,  and  the  priests  took  refuge  there.  The  inhab- 
itants fled   to   the  neighboring  towns.     The  Gauls  burned 

*  There  was  also  in  France  a  tribe  called  the  Senones,  whose  chiei 
town  was  Sens, 


62  THE  ROMAN  PEOPLE. 

Rome  and  laid  siege  to  the  Capitol.     The  following  account 
is  given  of  the  siege : 

Two  days  after  the  battle,  towards  night,  the  Gauls  arrived 
before  Rome.  They  found  the  walls  deserted  and  the  gates 
open.  Fearing  some  trick,  they  waited  for  day  before  attacking. 
On  the  morrow  they  went  into  the  city,  and  found  that  the 
inhabitants  had  fled,  taking  their  goods  with  them.  The  Gauls 
heard  no  sound,  nor  saw  anybody  ;  they  spread  themselves  about 
the  city  for  plunder.  In  the  vestibules  in  some  of  the  houses 
they  found  old  men  clothed  in  white  robes  fringed  with  purple, 
with  ivory  staves  in  their  hands,  sitting  in  ivory  chairs,  motion- 
less and  silent.^  These  were  former  magistrates  who  had  re- 
solved to  sacrifice  themselves  in  order  to  draw  the  wrath  of  the 
gods  on  the  enemy.  The  Gauls  were  at  first  too  much  aston- 
ished to  do  them  any  harm,  but  one  of  them  venturing  to  stroke 
the  beard  of  one  of  these  patriarchs,  Papirius  by  name,  the  old 
man  smote  him  on  the  head  with  his  ivory  staff.  The  Gauls 
were  enraged  and  slew  them  all.     Then  they  burned  the  city. 

They  tried  to  storm  the  Capitol ;  they  were  repulsed  and 
established  a  blockade.  One  day  a  Roman,  clad  in  priestly 
robes,  bearing  religious  symbols,  slowly  descended  the  hill  and 
passed  through  the  enemy's  camp,  climbed  the  Quirinal  hill, 
where  he  offered  a  sacrifice,  and  slowly  returned  to  the  Capitol 
by  the  same  path.  It  was  one  of  the  Fabii  going  to  perform  a 
religious  ceremony  which  was  a  yearly  duty  of  his  family.  The 
enemy  allowed  him  to  pass  through. 

The  Gauls  remained  encamped  at  the  base  of  the  Capitoline 
Hill  for  a  long  time.  The  rainy  season  had  begun,  and  having 
neither  shelter  nor  provisions,  they  suffered  from  hunger  and 
disease.  The  Romans  who  had  taken  refuge  at  Veil  had  re- 
called Camillus  from  exile,  taken  him  for  their  leader,  and 
appointed  him  dictator.  Camillus  began  to  plan  for  the  deliv- 
erance of  the  Capitol.  A  young  man  undertook  to  notify  the 
defenders.  Crossing  the  Tiber  in  a  skiff,  he  reached  the  foot  of 
the  Capitol  on  a  very  precipitous  side  which  the  enemy  had 
thought  it  unnecessary  to  guard,  and,  aided  by  the  shrubs  and 
brambles,  climbed  to  the  citadel. 

The  Gauls  discovered  the  tracks  left  by  the  messenger.  On  a 
dark  night  they  climbed  up  by  the  same  path,  and  reached  the 
top  without  being  discovered,  this  side  of  the  hill  being  left 
unguarded.  But  the  sacred  geese  in  Juno's  temple  heard  them, 
and  cackled  and  beat  their  wings  in  alarm.  The  Romans  were 
roused  by  the  noise.     Manlius,^  who  lived  near  by  and  was  the 

*  According  to  another  account  they  were  all  seated  in  the  Forum. 
2  Manlius  was  a  patrician  and  resided  on  the  Capitol.     He  was  famed 
also  for  his  death,  which  legend  tells  us  happened  in  this  way.     He  had 


CONQUEST  OF  ITALY,  63 

first  on  the  scene,  struck  the  Gallic  leader  on  the  head  with  his 
shield,  and  sent  the  whole  party  crashing  down  among  the 
rocks.     Thus  the  Capitol  was  saved  by  Manlius  Capitohuus. 

When  the  garrison  had  exhausted  its  provisions  it  was  forced 
to  capitulate.  The  Gauls  consented  to  leave  Rome  ;  the  Romans 
in  return  promised  to  pay  tliem  one  thousand  pounds  of  gold 
and  furnish  them  with  provisions  and  the  means  of  transpor- 
tation. But  the  Gauls  brought  false  weights  to  measure  the 
gold,  and  the  Romans  demanded  it  back.  Then  the  Gallic  chief 
threw  his  sword  into  the  scale,  saying,  '*Vcb  victis!"  (Woe  to 
the  vanquished !) 

The  legend  adds  that  the  Gauls  did  not  succeed  in  taking  the 
gold  home  with  them.  According  to  some  authorities  Camillus, 
on  his  arrival,  sent  away  the  gold,  saymg  that  "the  land  must 
not  be  delivered  by  gold  "  but  by  steel ,  and  a  battle  ensued  in 
the  ruined  city.  Camillus  overcame  the  Gauls,  and  ordered  the 
allied  cities  to  close  their  gates  to  the  fugitives,  so  that  all  the 
Gauls  that  had  come  to  Rome  were  exterminated. 

According  to  others  the  ransom  was  not  regained  until  a 
century  later. 

Polybius,  the  best  informed  of  the  ancient  historians,  says 
that  the  Gauls  withdrew  peaceably  with  their  spoils  in  order 
to  meet  an  attack  by  the  Venetians  on  their  northern  border. 

Except  for  the  unscathed  Capitol,  Rome  was  in  ruins. 
The  Romans  rebuilt  their  city  hastily — in  a  year,  it  is  said, 
— with  houses  of  brick  and  wood,  and  very  irregular  streets. 

Further  Wars  against  the  Gauls. — The  Gauls  who  had 
settled  in  the  Apennines  were  for  a  long  time  formidable  foes 
to  Rome.  They  allied  themselves  with  the  cities  that  were 
hostile  to  Rome. 

become  jealous  of  Camillus,  and,  to  make  a  party  for  himself,  he  redeemed 
the  enslaved  debtors  from  their  creditors.  The  patricians  wished  to  be 
rid  of  him,  and  accused  him  of  wishing  to  make  himself  king.  He  was 
imprisoned  and  led  before  the  people  assembled  in  the  Forum.  But  he 
pointed  to  the  Capitol  and  asked  it  they  would  be  so  ungrateful  as  to  con- 
demn the  savior  of  their  country.  The  assembly  refused  to  condemn 
him.  The  patricians  convoked  the  people  again,  but  now  in  a  part 
of  the  city  from  which  the  Capitol  could  not  be  seen,  and  this  time  Man- 
lius was  condemned  and  thrown  from  the  top  of  the  Tarpeian  rock.  This 
gave  rise  to  the  proverb:  "The  Tarpeian  rock  is  near  the  Capitol." 
Manlius'  house  was  torn  down,  and  it  was  forbidden  to  build  any  house 
on  the  Capitol  in  the  future. 


64  THE  ROMAN  PEOPLE, 

They  came  one  day  to  the  base  of  the  wall,  by  the  Colline 
Gate;  they  then  made  a  camp  by  enclosing  a  space  with 
their  chariots,  and  thither  they  retired  after  laying  waste  the 
country. 

Several  times  they  ravaged  the  country  about  Rome.  Then 
the  whole  body  of  Roman  citizens  were  called  on  to  fight 
against  them ;  laying  all  business  aside,  each  citizen  had  to 
procure  arms  and  hold  himself  always  ready  for  a  campaign. 

These  wars  with  the  Gauls  lasted  nearly  a  half-century. 
Beyond  the  legendary  stories  Httle  is  known  concerning  them. 

Submission  of  the  Latins. — Meanwhile  Rome  had  finally 
completed  the  subjugation  of  the  Volscians  who  lived  in  the 
plain  in  the  southern  part  of  Latium.  The  Volscian  cities 
were  in  ruins  and  the  country  had  become  a  deserted,  fever- 
laden  morass,  the  famous  Pontine  Marshes.  Then  the 
Romans  began  to  conquer  Campania. 

The  Latins,  Rome's  allies,  revolted  and  a  terrible  war 
ensued  (340  b.c.).  Once  more  we  are  reduced  to  legendary 
accounts. 

The  Latins  had  sent  two  magistrates  to  Rome  to  demand 
complete  equality  with  the  Romans.  The  senate  received  them 
in  the  Capitol.  The  envoys  demanded  that  one  consul  and 
half  the  senators  should  be  Latins.  When  this  proposition  was 
made  Manlius  cried  :  "  Hear  this  blasphemy,  O  Jupiter  !"  and 
swore  to  slay  the  first  Latin  who  should  enter  ihe  senate.  The 
Latin  Annius  replied  by  insulting  Juj)iter  Capitolinus.  A  flash 
of  lightning  followed  and  a  clap  of  thunder,  and  Annius,  who 
was  descending  the  Capitoline  by  the  stairway  of  one  hundred 
steps,  rolled  to  the  bottom  and  was  killed. 

The  two  armies  met  at  the  foot  of  Mount  Vesuvius.  The  left 
wing  of  the  Romans  began  to  weaken.  Decius,  one  of  the 
consuls,  called  the  pontifex  maximus  arid  told  him  that  he  was 
going  to  consecrate  himself  in  order  to  win  the  victory  for  his 
people.  He  placed  a  javelin  beneath  his  feet,  veiled  his  head, 
and,  standing,  repeated  the  sacred  formula:  "  }anus,  Jupiter, 
Mars,  Quirinus,  Bellona,  Lares,  Novensiles,  Indigetes,  gods  who 
have  us  and  our  enemies  in  your  power,  and  you,  Manes,  I  pray 
you  of  your  grace  to  send  strength  and  victory  to  the  Roman 
people  and  strike  with  terror,  destruction,  and  death  the  ene- 
mies of  the  Roman  people.  By  the  tormula  I  have  uttered,  for 
the  good  of  the  state,  the  army,  and  the  allies  of  the  Roman 


CONQUEST  OF  ITALY.  65 

people,  I  devote,  together  with  myself,  the  army  and  allies  of 
the  enemy  to  the  Manes  and  the  Earth."  He  laid  aside  his 
toga,  armed  himself,  mounted  a  horse,  and  threw  himself  into 
the  midst  of  the  enemy. 

He  was  killed.  But  the  Romans  won  the  day,  thanks  to  the 
devotion  of  Decius. 

Rome  subdued  the  Latins  and  broke  up  their  alliance. 
She  forbade  the  Latin  cities  to  make  war  or  to  hold  assem- 
blies among  themselves.  The  Latins  were  to  fight  only  by 
order  of  Roman  generals. 

Antium  had  a  fleet  of  war-vessels.  The  Romans  sub- 
jugated her  territory  and  seized  her  fleet  (338  B.C.). 

The  Samnite  War. — The  Samnites,  the  mountain  warriors 
of  the  Abruzzi,  had  joined  Rome  against  the  Gauls.     They 


A    SAMNITE    WARRIOR. 


had  also  shared  with  Rome  in  the  partition  of  the  Volscian 
lands.  The  alliance  was  broken  up  over  the  question  of 
Campania.  Campania  was  a  very  fertile  plain,  whose  capital, 
Capua,  was  famed  for  its  wealth.     The  people  of  Capua  had 


66  THE  ROMAN  PEOPLE. 

asked   to  be  governed   by  Rome  and  had  become  Roman 
citizens. 

We  are  told  that  the  Samnites  had  already  made  war  on 
Rome  through  jealousy  (343-341  B.C.). 

Other  Campanian  cities  took  the  Samnite  warriors  into 
their  service.  The  Greeks  of  Palaeopolis  made  so  bold  as  to 
ravage  the  territory  occupied  by  the  Romans,  and  a  Roman 
army  came  to  besiege  Palaeopolis.  The  Samnites  defended 
the  city.  This  was  the  beginning  of  a  war  which  lasted  more 
than  twenty  years  (326-304  B.C.),  and  was  for  a  long  time 
indecisive.  Rome  never  forgot  the  disaster  of  the  FurculcB 
Caudince  (The  Caudine  Forks),  and  this  is  how  it  was 
described : 

It  was  during  the  first  years  of  the  war  that  the  Roman  army, 
under  command  of  the  two  consuls,  while  crossing  the  moun- 
tains on  its  way  to  Luceria,  imprudently  engaged  in  battle  in 
the  defile  known  as  the  Forks  of  Caudium.  The  Samnites  had 
barred  the  road  ahead  with  trees  and  rocks,  and  they  now  cut 
off  retreat  in  the  rear.  The  Romans  found  themselves  caught 
between  two  steep  wooded  precipices  in  the  middle  of  a  pass  of 
which  the  enemy  held  both  ends.  They  had  hardly  room  to 
encamp. 

Pontius,  chief  of  the  Samnites,  asked  advice  of  his  father 
Herennius,  who  said  to  him  :  "  You  must  choose  between  two 
courses,  either  win  the  Romans  by  clemency,  or  seize  the  op- 
portunity to  crush  them  by  exterminating  their  army."  Pontius 
did  neither.  He  consented  to  let  the  Romans  go,  but  on  con- 
dition that  the  consuls,  in  the  name  of  the  Roman  people, 
should  promise  to  withdraw  the  Roman  garrisons  from  Sam- 
nium.  The  consuls  swore  and  left  with  the  Samnites  as  host- 
ages six  thousand  horsemen,  sons  of  noble  families. 

It  was  the  custom  among  the  peoples  of  Italy,  when  an  army 
capitulated,  to  make  the  vanquished  pass  under  the  yoke  be- 
fore dismissing  them.  A  lance  was  placed  across  the  top  of 
two  lances  and  stuck  in  the  ground,  and  under  this  the  defeated 
army  must  file  with  bowed  heads.  The  Romans  issued  from 
their  camp  unarmed  and  clad  each  in  a  single  garment,  and 
passed  under  the  yoke.  Their  arms  and  outfit,  including  every- 
thing in  the  camp,  belonged  by  custom  to  the  victor  (321  B.C.). 

The  Roman  people  themselves  had  the  sole  right  to  make  a 
treaty.  Must  they  now  consider  themselves  bound  by  the  oath 
of  the  consuls  }    The  senate  declared  that  the  consuls  had  ex- 


CONQUEST  OF  ITALY.  ^1 

ceeded  their  powers  and  that  the  treaty  was  void.  Postumius, 
himself  one  of  the  consuls,  suggested  a  way  of  salving  their 
consciences  while  breaking  their  agreement. 

ThG/gtiaies,  who  had  the  function  of  declaring  war,  led  the 
consuls  who  had  signed  this  trea|:y  to  the  camp  of  the  Samnites 
and  handed  them  over  naked  and  in  chains,  saying :  "  Since  these 
men,  without  authority  from  the  Roman  people,  promised  to 
make  a  treaty  with  you  and  thus  wronged  you,  we  hand  them 
over  to  you."  Thereupon  Postumius  gave  the  herald  a  blow 
with  his  knee,  saying,  *'  I  am  now  a  Samnite,  and  by  striking  the 
herald,  contrary  to  the  law  of  nations,  I  have  given  Rome  the 
right  to  make  war  on  the  Samnites."  Pontius  paid  no  atten- 
tion to  this  buffoonery  and  demanded  the  fulfilment  of  the 
treaty.  But  the  Romans  resumed  the  war  and  were  in  the  end 
victorious. 

The  Samnites  made  a  long  resistance;  there  were  battles 
in  Latium,  Campania,  and  Apulia.  The  Etruscans  joined 
the  Samnites  (311  b  c),  but  the  Romans  compelled  them  to 
withdraw  from  the  war. 

The  Romans  then  entered  the  Samnite  country,  took  the 
fortress  of  Bovianum,  which  held  a  large  quantity  of  silver, 
and  met  the  Samnites  in  a  great  battle.  The  Samnites  were 
defeated  and  decided  to  ask  for  peace. 

Rome  proceeded  to  bring  into  her  alliance,  either  by  per- 
suasion or  by  force,  the  cities  of  Campania  and  the  small 
mountain  peoples. 

Conquest  of  the  Samnites. — Before  many  years  had 
passed  the  Samnites  renewed  the  war  (298  b.c.  ),  this  time 
having  as  allies  the  Etruscans,  Lucanians,  Umbrians,  and 
Sabines. 

The  Romans  had  with  them  the  Latins  and  the  Cam- 
panians.  They  invaded  the  Samnite  territory  and  spent  five 
months  in  laying  it  waste.  Their  camping-grounds  were 
afterwards  recognized  by  the^ruin  and  desolation  surrounding 
them. 

But  Rome  was  still  threatened  by  a  great  danger.  She 
had  to  meet  the  force  that  was  marching  against  her, — 
Samnites,  Etruscans,  and  Umbrians,  aided  by  an  army  of 
Senonese    (Gauls).      Rome    sent   out    five   armies,    which 


68 


THE  ROMAN  PEOPLE. 


destroyed  the  army  of  Samnites  and  Gauls  in  the  plain  of 
Sentinum  (295  b.c). 


li'iiiillllilii:iiiiiiiiiiiii|iliiiii'ii;i;iiiiiiiiiiliiiii^iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiirj;i;iM!iinii.ii:i^^ 


TOMB   OF   L.    CORNELIUS   SCIPIO    BARBATUS. 

(A  general  in  the  Samnite  War.) 

The  Samnites  gave  up  the  fight  in  290  b.c.  They  retained 
their  government,  but  swore  never  to  make  war  again  except 
by  Rome's  command.  Twenty  thousand  Roman  farmers 
were  sent  to  settle  in  Venusia,  in  order  to  keep  a  watch  over 
them. 

Conquest  of  Central  Italy. — About  the  same  time  Rome 
conquered  the  Sabines  of  the  mountams  (290  b.c.)  and  took 
from  them  a  part  of  their  land,  which  was  then  given  to 
Roman  citizens.  The  Romans  reached  the  Adriatic,  where 
they  established  a  colony,  Hadria.  The  Etruscans  had 
several  times  attacked  the  Romans  during  the  Samnite  wars, 
but  each  of  their  towns  had  a  government  of  its  own  and  they 
never  acted  together;  and  each  time,  by  ravaging  their  lands, 
the  Romans  forced  them  to  sue  for  peace. 

Once  more  the  Senonese  Gauls,  crossmg  the  mountains, 
invaded  Etruria  and  laid  siege  to  Arretium,  an  Etruscan 
town  allied  with  Rome.  The  Roman  army  sent  to  help 
Arretium  v/as  destroyed.  The  Romans  in  revenge  invaded 
the  territory  of  the  Senonese,  and  slew  or  expelled  the  inhab- 


CONQUEST  OF  ITALY.  O9 

itants.  They  then  sent  thither  a  colony,  Sena  GalHca 
(284  B.C.).  The  Boii,  another  tribe  of  Gauls  living  south 
of  the  Po,  joined  the  remnant  of  the  Senonese,  invaded 
Etruria  and  marched  on  Rome.  There  was  a  battle  near 
Lake  Vadimon,  in  which  the  Gauls  were  slaughtered,  redden- 
ing the  Tiber  with  their  blood.  The  Boii  then  made  peace 
(283  B.C.). 

Soon  after  the  Etruscans  made  their  submission  and 
became  allies  of  the  Romans. 

Thus  Rome  became  supreme  over  all  Italy,  except  the 
part  in  the  south  held  by  the  Greeks. 

War  with  Pyrrhus. — The  largest  Greek  city  in  Italy  was 
at  that  time  Tarentum.  This  city  had  a  good  harbor,  the 
only  good  one  on  that  coast;  through  it  passed  the  com- 
merce of  the  mountain  region  behind.  The  Tarentines 
bought  wools  of  the  mountaineers,  which  they  manufactured 
into  colored  fabrics.  They  made  also  large  vases  of  red  clay 
which  were  used  for  keeping  wine  and  oil.  They  were  very 
wealthy,  wore  fine  clothes,  and  were  fond  of  banquets  and 
shows.  This  is  the  story  of  their  embroilment  with  the 
Romans : 

Thurii,  a  Greek  town  being  besieged  by  the  mountaineers  of 
Lucania  and  Bruttium,  asked  the  Romans  for  help.  Fabricius 
led  some  Roman  soldiers  to  its  aid,  but  found  his  force  too 
small  to  attack  the  besiegers.  Suddenly  they  saw  a  young  man 
of  enormous  stature  placing  a  ladder  against  the  wall  of  the 
enemy's  camp  and  climbing  to  the  assault;  the  Romans  fol- 
lowed him  and  captured  the  camp.  The  warrior  to  whom  they 
owed  the  victory  was  nowhere  to  be  found,  but  they  remem- 
bered that  his  helmet  bore  a  plume  like  that  of  the  statue  of 
Mars,  and  Fabricius  decreed  a  service  of  thanksgiving  to  the  god 
Mars.     The  Romans  maintained  a  garrison  at  Thurii. 

Ten  Roman  ships  were  sent  thither  along  the  coast  and 
passed  in  front  of  Tarentum.  Now  the  Romans  were  under 
treaty  engagement  to  Tarentum  not  to  sail  beyond  Cape  Laci- 
nium.  The  Tarentines  attacked  the  ten  ships  and  sank  four  of 
them  Later  they  drove  the  Romans  out  of  Thurii  and  sacked 
the  town. 

The  senate  sent  ambassadors  to  Tarentum  to  demand  repa- 
ration.    The  Tarentines  assembled  in  the  theatre,  according  to 


70  THE  ROMAN  PEOPLE. 

Greek  custom,  to  receive  the  Roman  ambassadors ;  but  when 
these  sought  to  speak,  the  crowd  began  to  laugh  and  hiss. 
One,  more  impudent  than  the  rest,  threw  mud  on  the  toga  of 
Postumius.  head  of  the  embassy,  who  said  :  "You  may  laugh 
now,  but  this  robe  shall  l.e  washed  in  your  blood." 

Rome  declared  war  against  Tarentum  (281  b.c).  The 
I'arentines,  accustomed  to  peace,  had  no  inclination  fcr 
fighting.  They  took  into  their  service  Pyrrhus,  king  of 
Epirus,  who  was  at  the  head  of  a  warrior  nation  of  moun- 
taineers on  the  other  side  of  the  Adriatic. 

Pyrrhus  was  already  famed  as  a  general.  He  claimed 
descent  from  Achilles.  He  had  conquered  Macedonia  and 
had  fought  in  Asia.  He  was  said  to  dream  of  conquering 
Sicily  and  Italy  and  then  the  whole  west  as  far  as  the  ocean. 
The  Tarentines  are  said  to  have  promised  him  three  hundred 
and  fifty  thousand  foot-soldiers  and  twenty  thousand  horse- 
men. 

He  crossed  the  sea  with  his  army  of  twenty  thousand  foot- 
soldiers,  two  thousand  archers,  three  thousand  Thessalian 
horsemen,  and  twenty  elephants. 

The  Romans  were  at  first  troubled.  Their  religious 
scruple  forbade  them  to  fight  an  enemy  before  declaring  war 
on  him  according  to  ancient  form :  the  herald  should  go  to 
the  enemy's  frontier  and  hurl  a  javelin  on  his  land.  How 
should  they  declare  war  on  Pyrrhus,  whose  land  lay  beyond 
the  sea  ?  They  hit  upon  an  expedient.  An  '  Epirote,  a 
deserter  from  the  army  of  Pyrrhus,  bought  a  farm.  They 
held  that  this  farm  had  thereby  become  Epirote  territory. 
The  herald  went  to  it,  hurled  his  javelin,  and  declared 
war. 

The  Roman  army  advanced  upon  Pyrrhus  and  met  him  in 
a  plain  near  Heraclea  (280  B.C.).  The  two  sides  were  very 
evenly  matched.  Pyrrhus,  like  Alexander  before  him,  led 
the  charge  at  the  head  of  his  cavalry,  while  the  phalanx  stood 
motionless,  presenting  to  the  enemy  a  hedge  of  pikes.  At 
length  the  elephants  charged;  the  Romans,  never  having 
seen  these  enormous  creatures  before,  were  panic-stricken, 


CONQUEST  OF  ITALY.  It 

and  fled,  abandoning  their  camp.     The  Epirotes  had,  how- 
ever, sustained  heavy  loss  of  life. 

It  was  said  that,  the  day  after  the  battle,  Pyrrhus  visited  the 
field  and  noticed  that  all  the  Roman  corpses  had  been  smitten 
in  front,  showing  that  none  had  fled.  He  then  remarked  : 
"  Another  victory  like  this  would  send  me  back  alone  to  Epi- 
rus."  This  gave  rise  to  the  expression  "a  Pyrrhic  victory,"  to 
indicate  a  victory  purchased  at  great  cost. 

There  was  also  a  report  that  Pyrrhus  proposed  taking  the 
Roman  prisoners  into  his  service,  and  that  none  would  accept 
liberty  at  this  price. 

After  this  victory  Pyrrhus  summoned  the  Samnites  and 
Lucanians  who  had  revolted  against  Rome,  and  marched 
with  them  on  Latium.  On  his  way,  however,  he  stopped 
and  spent  the  winter  negotiating  with  Rome.  The  negotia- 
tion was  carried  on  by  his  friend  Cineas,  a  Thessalian  Greek, 
who  is  famed  in  legend. 

Cineas  was  said  to  have  tried  to  turn  Pyrrhus  aside  from  his 
expedition.  He  came  to  Rome  with  gifts  for  the  senators  and 
rich  stuffs  for  their  wives,  but  none  would  accept  them.  The 
day  that  he  made  proposals  of  peace  to  the  senate.  Appius 
Claudius,  aged  and  blind,  had  himself  carried  into  the  hall  and 
passionately  denounced  the  idea  of  peace.  "  Let  Pyrrhus  first 
leave  Italy,"  he  said  ;  "  then  we  will  talk  of  peace."  The  senate 
ordered  Cineas  to  leave  Rome  the  same  night. 

Cineas,  on  returning  to  Pyrrhus,  said  :  "  After  a  sight  of  the 
senate  I  feel  as  though  I  had  looked  upon  an  assembly  of  kings. 
Fighting  the  Romans  is  like  fighting  Hydra,  for  their  number, 
like  their  courage,  is  boundless." 

Pyrrhus  offered  to  release  the  prisoners  and  to  become  an 
ally  of  Rome  if  Rome  would  give  up  her  claim  to  Apulia. 
The  Romans  refused. 

In  the  following  spring,  Pyrrhus  besieged  Asculum.  The 
consuls  came  against  him  with  seventy  thousand  men.  They 
arranged  with  Pyrrhus  the  time  and  place  for  a  battle. 

Pyrrhus  placed  in  the  centre  and  on  the  right  the  Greeks, 
the  South  Italians,  and  the  Tarentines,  armed  with  white 
shields,  on  the  left  the  Samnites,  and  on  the  two  flanks  his 
horsemen,   archers,   and  elephants.     At  a  given  signal  the 


72  THE  ROMAhl  PEOPLE. 

Greeks  began  to  sing  the  paean  and  the  cavalry,  urging  their 
horses,  galloped  around  the  Roman  squadrons,  then  wheeled 
about,  and  charged  again.  The  infantry  on  the  right  were 
forcing  the  Romans  back,  but  those  in  the  centre  began  to 
give  way.  Pyrrhus  advanced  his  elephants.  The  Romans, 
to  meet  this  move,  had  prepared  three  hundred  chariots 
armed  with  scythes  and  long  poles,  on  the  end  of  each  of 
which  was  a  bunch  of  tow  dipped,  in  pitch;  they  trusted  to 
the  smoke  and  the  smell  to  cause  a  stampede  among  the 
elephants.  But  on  each  elephant's  back  rode  an  archer, 
under  shelter;  these  archers  shot  down  the  drivers  of  the 
chariots.  The  soldiers,  slipping  in  among  the  chariots,  cut 
the  traces  and  rendered  them  useless. 

While  the  fighting  was  in  progress,  a  troop  of  Italian 
warriors  who  were  with  the  Roman  army  climbed  to  an 
elevation  behind  the  almost  unguarded  camp  of  the  Epirotes, 
took  possession  of  it  without  fighting,  pillaged  it,  and  set  it 
on  fire.  The  Epirote  horsemen,  hastily  summoned  by  the 
news,  found  the  camp  already  in  flames. 

At  nightfall  the  fighting  ceased  and  both  sides  retired,  the 
Romans  crossing  to  their  camp  on  the  other  side  of  the  river 
(279  B.C.). 

Pyrrhus  had  had  enough  of  this  war.  The  Sicilians  asked 
him  for  help  against  the  Carthaginians,  and  he  went  to  Sicily 
and  remained  there  two  years. 

The  physician  in  attendance  on  Pyrrhus  had  offered  the 
Roman  consul  Fabricius  to  poison  his  master.  Fabricius 
declined  to  take  advantage  of  so  dishonorable  an  offer.  In- 
stead he  sent  to  warn  Pyrrhus  and,  in  return  for  his  friendly  act, 
received  back  all  his  prisoners  without  ransom. 

Conquest  of  Tarentum. — As  soon  as  Pyrrhus  had  gone, 
the  Romans  subdued  all  the  peoples  of  the  south  and  ravaged 
the  Samnite  country. 

When  the  two  years  were  past  Pyrrhus  returned  to  Italy. 
While  crossing  the  straits,  his  fleet  and  his  military  chest 
were  seized  by  the  Carthaginians;  being  in  need  of  money, 


CONQUEST  OF  ITALY.  73 

he  took  the  treasure  from  the  temple  of  Proserpina,  at  Cumae. 
From  that  time  he  was  pursued  by  ill  fortune,  which  he 
attributed  to  the  wrath  of  the  goddess. 

The  Romans  withdrew  into  Samnium.  Pyrrhus  followed 
and  attacked  them  near  Beneventum.  The  Romans  had  at 
last  learned  how  to  fight  the  elephants  and  met  them  with  a 
storm  of  heated  arrows;  they  defeated  Pyrrhus  and  took  his 
camp  (275  B.C.).  Pyrrhus  returned  to  Epirus  with  a  poor 
remnant  of  eight  thousand  men. 

Two  years  later  he  was  killed  by  a  tile  thrown  by  an  old 
woman  during  the  attack  on  Argos,  in  Greece. 

He  had  left  a  garrison  in  Tarentum,  but  after  his  death 
his  general  handed  the  city  over  to  the  Romans.  The  walls 
of  the  city  were  then  destroyed  and  the  inhabitants  deprived 
of  their  arms. 

A  number  of  wars  were  fought  alter  this  with  the  moun- 
taineers and  with  an  Etruscan  city  called  Volsinii,  which  was 
destroyed.  Rome  was  then  mistress  of  the  whole  of  Italy 
(266  B.C  ). 

SOURCES. 

Appian Foreign  PVars,  Bks.  II-IV. 

Eutropius Bk.  i',  §  11 -11,  §  18. 

Livy Bk.  ii-x. 

Plutarch Lamillus,  Pyrrhus. 

Polybius c.  i,  §  7  ;  c.  ii,  §§  18-21. 

PARALLEL   READING. 

Duruy cc.  vii,  x,  xi,  xiv-xvii. 

Ihne Bk.  11,  cc.   iii-xviii ;    Early  Rome ^  cc.  xx^ 

xxi. 

Mommsen Bk.  11,  cc.  iv-vii. 

Botsford.   c.  iii. 

How  and  Leigh cc.  x,  xi,  xii-xvi. 

Morey. cc.  x-xiii. 

Myers c.  vi. 

Pelham Bk.  11,  c.  ii. 

Shuckburgh cc.  vi,  vii,  ix-xv. 


CHAPTER  VII. 
THE  ROMAN  ARMY. 

War. — The  temple  of  Janus  was  kept  open  whenever  the 
Roman  people  were  at  war.  In  five  centuries  it  had  been 
closed  but  once  and  then  only  for  a  few  years.  The  Romans 
were  constantly  at  war,  and  in  the  end  subjugated  all  the 
other  peoples  of  the  Mediterranean  basin. 

In  order  to  understand  the  secret  of  their  success,  it  is 
necessary  to  know  how  the  Roman  state  was  organized  for 
war. 

The  Primitive  Roman  Army. — In  the  early  days  the 
Roman  army  was  like  that  of  the  other  Latin  and  Greek 
peoples.  When  war  broke  out,  the  king,  later  the  consuls, 
assembled  the  fighting  men.  All  the  citizens  were  liable  for 
service:  they  came  armed  and  equipped  at  their  own 
expense.  Each  man's  place  in  the  army  depended  on  his 
wealth;  the  richest  served  as  horsemen,  celeres  (later  equiies). 
These  were  divided  into  squadrons  of  thirty  men  each. 
The  poorest,  being  unable  to  buy  an  equipment,  fought 
outside  the  army  by  throwing  javelins  or  stones,  and  were 
called  velites. 

Those  who  could  furnish  an  outfit  formed  the  regular 
infantry,  called  the  legion  (the  levy).  There  was  at  first  but 
one  legion,  later  two,  still  later  two  for  each  consul,  making 
four  in  all.  In  battle  the  legion  was  drawn  up  as  a  phalanx 
in  the  Greek  manner;  the  men  were  arranged  in  very  com- 
pact   fashion    with    their   pikes  in    front,   forming   a   solid 

74 


THE  ROMAN  ARMY.  75 

mass.  The  main  object  was  to  thrust  back  the  opposing 
phalanx. 

The  Romans  arranged  themselves  in  six  ranks,  so  their 
phalanx  was  i-ix  men  in  depth,  the  width  depending  on  the 
number  of  men  in  the  legion.  All  the  legionaries  were 
armed  alike  with  pike  and  sword,  but  they  had  not  the  same 
defensive  armor.  The  men  who  had  the  best  armor  were 
placed  in  front,  and  those  who  were  less  well  armed  assigned 
to  the  rear  ranks. 

The  reform  of  Servius  Tullius  divided  the  foot-soldiers  into 
five  classes,  according  to  their  wealth.  The  first  class  had 
a  complete  outfit:  a  full  suit  of  armor,  a  helmet,  and  a  great 
shield.  The  second  class  carried  no  shields,  the  third 
neither  helmet  nor  greaves.  The  fourth  and  fifth  classes 
fought  outside  the  legion  as  velites. 

The  proletarians  were  not  called  on  for  service;  they  had 
not  the  honor  of  belonging  to  the  Roman  army. 

This  organization  was  altered  during  the  Gallic  and 
Samnite  wars,  but  just  at  what  time  or  by  whom  not  even 
the  Romans  could  say  (some  said  by  Camillus).  We  have 
no  real  acquaintance  with  the  Roman  army  prior  to  the  end 
of  the  second  century,  when  Polybius,  a  Greek  historian, 
wrote  a  description  of  it. 

Enrollment. — Paupers  were  still  excluded  from  the  army, 
but  class  distinction  was  done  away  with.  The  state  paid  a 
wage  and  furnished  the  arms,  making  soldiers  independent 
of  their  private  means.  Every  citizen  belonging  to  one  of 
the  classes  owed  military  service  to  the  state. 

He  must  serve  through  twenty  campaigns  as  foot-soldier 
or  ten  as  horseman.  Until  this  term  was  completed  he  was 
at  the  disposal  of  the  general,  who  had  the  right  to  enroll 
him  between  the  ages  of  seventeen  and  forty-six. 

When  soldiers  were  needed  the  consul  summoned  to  the 
Capitol  all  citizens  of  eligible  age.  The  superior  officers, 
of  which  each  legion  had  six  (military  tribunes,  elected  by 
the  people),  stood  near  the  consul.     From  each  tribe  was 


70  THE  ROMAN  PEOPLE. 

chosen  a  man  for  each  legion;  in  this  way  each  of  the 
thirty-five  tribes  provided  the  same  number,  and  the  process 
was  repeated  until  the  legions  were  filled.  There  were  also 
many  volunteers;  but  the  tribunes  had  the  right  to  choose 
any  one  they  pleased,  and  every  citizen  must  answer  to  his 
name. 

After  this  operation,  known  as  the  dilectus  (choosing),  all 
took  the  oath,  the  officers  leading.  Then  a  soldier,  chosen 
from  among  the  bravest,  pronounced  the  sacred  formula: 
**  I  swear  to  follow  the  general  and  obey  his  orders  ";  and 
declared  that,  should  he  fail  to  keep  his  promise,  the  wrath 
of  the  gods  might  descend  upon  him.  Each  soldier  then 
repeated:  "The  same  for  me."  Thus  all  were  bound  to 
their  general  by  religious  ties,  and  none  could  leave  the 
army  unless  discharged. 

The  Legions. — The  legion  varied  from  forty-two  hundred 
to  six  thousand  men.  It  was  at  first  accompanied  by  a 
small  troop  of  cavalry  composed  of  wealthy  young  men; 
later  the  generals  adopted  the  custom  of  keeping  the  young 
men  as  guards  near  their  own  persons,  and  the  Roman 
cavalry  went  out  of  existence. 

The  smallest   Roman  army  could   not  be  less  than  one 
legion.      A  consul  had  always  at  least  two  legions. 
/      Allies. — The  legions  formed  a  bare  half  of  the  Roman 
army,  for  Rome,  in  subjugating  the  neighboring  peoples,  had 
compelled  them  to  put  their  troops  at  her  service.     These 
;  were  the  allies   {socii^.     They  formed  separate  corps  under 
their  own  standards;  the  allied  people  supplied  the  requisite 
number  of  men,  paid  them  their  wages,  and  appointed  the 
lower   officers.      All  were,   however,    subject   to  the  Roman 
general;    he  selected  the  place  where  these  troops  should 
present  themselves,  and  placed  Roman  citizens  at  their  head. 
There   were   always   at   least   as   many  allies  as  there   were 
'legionaries  in  a  Romian  army,  and  usually  more.     The  horse- 
men were  almost  all  from  the  allies. 

After  the  third  century,  Rome  hired  soldiers  from  outside 


THE  ROMAN  ARMY.  77 

of  Italy;  these  were  called  auxiliaries  (auxilia),  and  had 
their  own  arms  and  companies.  They  were  chiefly  horsemen 
(Gauls,  Numidians,  and  ]\Ioors),  archers,  and  slingers. 

Armament  and  Order  of  Battle. — The  Roman  army  was 
an  army  of  foot-soldiers.      They  were  of  two  classes: 

The  velites  were  lightly  armed,  protected  only  by  a  leather 
helmet  and  a  small  round  shield,  and  carrying  a  sword  and 
javelins  to  be  thrown  from  a  distance.  They  fought  apart 
from  the  legion,  cither  in  front  or  on  the  sides. 

The  legionaries  were  the  regular  soldiers.  Every  man  was 
fully  armed:  a  sleeveless  cuirass  {loricd)  which  covered  the 
body  as  far  as  the  thigh,  a  steel  helmet  (galea),  and  a  shield 
(sculum)  of  wood  and  leather,  bound  with  iron. 

In  battle  the  legion  no  longer  fought  in  a  solid  mass,  but 
divided  in  three  lines,  with  a  wide  space  between.  The 
soldiers  of  the  first  [haslaii)  and  second  {principes)  lines 
carried  a  sword  ^  and  a  \\t.di.\\  pilum;  the  pilum  is  a  heavy 
javelin  with  an  iron  point  and  a  wooden  handle,  the  whole 
over  six  feet  in  length.  Those  of  the  third  line  [friar ii)  bore 
a  sword  and  a  pike  {hasla). 

The  three  lines  were  each  divided  into  ten  companies, 
called  maniples,  because  each  had  a  bunch  of  hay  (nianipttlum) 
on  its  standard  as  a  distinguishing  mark.  On  the  battle-field 
these  maniples  were  arranged  in  groups  six  men  deep,  the 
distance  between  the  maniples  being  at  least  as  great  as  the 
width  of  their  front.  The  maniples  of  the  second  line 
formed  groups  of  the  same  size  and  took  their  position  just 
behind  the  gaps  left  by  the  first  line.  The  third  line  did 
likewise,  so  that  the  thirty  maniples  of  the  legion  formed  a 
quincunx. 

The  maniples  of  the  first  line  opened  the  battle.  The 
soldiers  threw  their  javelins,  then  marched  on  the  enemy 
and  fought  with  the  sword.     Should  they  be  repulsed  they 

*  During  the  Punic  wars  the  Romans  adopted  the  short,  pointed 
Spanish  sword  (two  feet  in  length)  which  they  carried  at  the  right  side, 
suspended  from  a  belt.     On  the  left  they  carried  a  dagger. 


78  THE  ROMAN  PEOPLE, 

dropped  back  into  the  spaces  left  in  the  second  line,  and  the 
second  line  marched  forward  to  the  attack.  If  they  too 
failed,  they  fell  back  into  the  third  line,  and  the  third  line, 
a  reserve  of  picked  men  armed  with  pikes,  made  the  decisive 
effort  of  the  battle. 

The  allies  fought  on  both  sides  of  the  legions,  forming  the 
wings. 

This  mode  of  battle  gave  the  Romans  the  advantage  of 
being  able  to  keep  account  of  their  losses;   instead  of  an 


LBGION   IN   ORDER   OF   BATTLE. 

A,  Ten  maniples  of  hnstati,    20  men  in  front  by  6  deep. 
B       "  "  '"''  principes  "      "      "       "       '*    6      " 

C       "  "  '*  triarii       "      "      "       "      "    3      " 

D      "  "  "  velites        "      "      "       "      "   2     " 

unwieldy  mass  their  army  was  made  up  of  movable  squadrons 
ready  to  march  quickly  to  any  part  of  the  field  where  they 
might  be  needed. 

The  horsemen  wore  complete  armor  and  carried  a  long 
spear  and  a  long  sword;  but  as  they  rode  stirrupless  on  very 
small  horses  they  were  not  sufficiently  firm  to  charge  in  a 
group;  each  therefore  fought  independently  or  among  the 
velites.      Roman  victories  were  not  often  due  to  the  cavalry. 

Order  of  March. — During  a  campaign,  the  army  usually 
marched  in  a  column  in  the  following  order: 

I.   At  the  head,  the  picked  soldiers  chosen  from  among 
the  allies. 

II.  The  allies  belonging  to  one  of  the  two  wings. 

III.   A  legion,  followed  by  its  equipment. 


THE  ROMAN  ARMY.  79 

IV.   Another  legion,  followed  by  its  equipment. 
V.    The  other  wing  of  allies. 

The  two  legions  and  the  two  wings  changed   places  daily. 

If  there  was  danger  of  an  attack,  they  marched  in  a 
square;  the  camp  outfits  were  put  in  the  middle  with  one 
legion  in  front  and  the  other  behind,  and  a  wing  on  either 
side. 

The  soldier  carried  his  arms  and  his  bowl,  an  axe,  a  saw, 
a  stake,  and  seventeen  days'  rations;  this  was  a  heavy  load 
— sixty  Roman  pounds. 

The  pack-animals  carried  the  tents,  one  for  every  ten 
men.  The  army,  not  being  encumbered  by  chariots,  moved 
more  rapidly  than  the  other  armies  of  ancient  times. 

The  Camp. — When  the  Roman  army  came  to  a  halt,  it 
did  not  expose  itself  to  a  surprise  by  an  enemy;  the  soldiers 
built  an  improvised  fortress,  the  camp  {castra  ^). 

They  worked  in  accordance  with  rules  fixed  by  religion. 
A  priest  first  drew  two  straight  lines  intersecting  each  other 
at  right  angles.  At  the  point  of  intersection  they  set  up  a 
pole  with  a  white  flag;  this  was  where  the  general's  tent  was 
to  be,  the  prceioriuvi,  the  centre  of  the  camp.  In  an  open 
space  about  it  were  to  be  the  sacrificial  altar,  military  court, 
military  chest,  business  oflfice,  and  the  market-place  (Forum) 
where  the  general  called  his  men  together. 

Then  an  officer  traced  the  outside  line  of  the  camp  in  the 
form  of  a  square.  The  soldiers,  as  soon  as  they  came  to  the 
spot,  fell  to  work  without  a  pause.  They  took  out  their 
spades  and  on  the  four  sides  of  the  square  they  dug  a  broad 
deep  trench,  throwing  the  earth  inwards  so  as  to  form  a 
bank  (agger).  At  the  top  of  this  bank  they  drove  a  line  of 
pickets  and  fastened  them  together.  The  camp  was  now 
surrounded  by  a  picket  fence  on  top  of  a  rampart  and 
guarded  by  a  trench.  At  the  middle  of  each  side  there  was 
a  gate. 

*  Castra  signifies  fortified  enclosure. 


8o 


THE  ROM/IN  PEOPLE. 


The  enclosed  space  was  divided  in  two  halves  by  a  passage 
one  hundred  feet  wide  {\\\^  via  principalis).  The  half  con- 
taining the  general's  tent  was  the  one  towards  the  enemy; 
on  the  same  side  were  the  tents  of  the  higher  officers,  the 
picked  soldiers,    and   the   auxiliaries.     The  other  half  was 


POUT*    PRINCII    IPALIS 


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I  PALIS  OtXTRA 


ENCAMPMENT. 


occupied  by  the  two  Roman  legions  and  the  two  wings  of 
the  allies,  separated  by  a  passage.  The  tents  were  placed 
in  straight  lines,  two  by  two  and  back  to  back,  each  open- 
ing on  one  of  the  alleys  crossing  the  main  passage  at  right 
angles.      Each  tent  sheltered  ten  men. 

Each  soldier  had  always  the  same  relative  position  in  the 
camp.      He  therefore  knew  in  advance  exactly  where  he  was 


THE  ROMAN  ARMY  8l 

to  place  his  tent  and  might  place  it  there  without  waiting 
for  orders.  It  was  as  if  the  army  carried  its  barracks  with 
it. 

Between  the  tents  and  the  rampart  they  left  a  space  of 
fifty  yards;  and  here  they  placed  the  horses  and  pack- 
animals. 

Outside  of  the  entrenchment  and  near  to  each  gate  they 
posted  sentinels  on  guard,  taken  from  imong  the  velites. 
The  night  was  divided  into  watches;  the  end  of  each  watch 
was  announced  by  sounding  a  trumpet;  sentinels  were  then 
changed.  Horsemen  went  around  from  post  to  post  to  see 
that  the  sentinels  did  not  sleep. 

Pay  and  Booty. — The  soldier  received  wages,  and  for 
rations  wheat  and  barley  (about  a  bushel  a  month).  To  this 
he  added  whatever  he  could  pick  up  on  the  way.  The 
Romans,  like  other  nations  of  antiquity,  made  a  practice  of 
plundering  the  enemy's  country,  carrying  off  the  cattle  and 
even  the  inhabitants.  Whatever  was  found  on  the  field  of 
battle,  in  the  camp  of  a  conquered  enemy,  or  in  a  town 
taken  by  assault,  belonged  to  the  conquerors.  This  was  the 
customary  practice  of  the  period.  But  the  Romans  went  at 
it  in  a  systematic  way,  and  organized  parties  of  soldiers  whose 
work  it  was  to  plunder  and  to  bring  everything  they  found  to 
the  camp.  Thus  all  booty  was  public  property:  arms,  sol- 
diers' baggage,  money,  utensils,  cattle,  and  even  the  enemies 
themselves,  their  wives  and  children.  Money  and  metals 
were  set  aside;  everything  else  was  sold  to  the  highest  bidder. 
Men,  women,  and  children  were  sold  as  slaves.  The 
product  of  the  sale  belonged  to  the  Roman  people,  and  had 
to  be  turned  into  the  public  treasury.  The  general,  how- 
ever, retained  a  part  to  make  offering  to  the  gods  and  to 
distribute  as  rewards  to  the  officers  and  soldiers.  A  war 
against  a  rich  people  would  fill  the  Roman  treasury  and 
sometimes  even  make  rich  men  of  the  soldiers  who  shared  in 
the  booty. 

Discipline. — The   Roman   army  was  subject  to  a  more 


82  The  ROMAN  PEOPLE. 

severe  discipline  than  any  other  army  of  antiquity.  From 
the  moment  of  leaving  Rome  the  soldiers  owed  absolute 
obedience  to  their  general.  The  general  had  over  all  the 
absolute  command  or  "power  of  life  and  death/'  the 
so-called  impei'ium. 

The  sentinel  who  slept  at  his  station,  the  soldier  who 
deserted  his  post  in  battle,  or  disobeyed  the  order  of  the 
general,  was  punished  with  death.  There  were  two  ways  of 
executing  the  condemned.  Either  a  lictor  tied  him  to  a 
stake,  scourged  him  with  rods,  and  cut  off  his  head  with  his 
axe;  or  he  was  compelled  to  pass  between  two  ranks  of 
sodiers  who  beat  him  to  death.  When  a  whole  company 
was  condemned,  for  example  for  mutiny,  as  they  could  not 
all  be  put  to  death,  the  general  divided  the  guilty  men  into 
groups  of  ten  each ;  in  each  group  lots  were  drawn  and  the 
unlucky  one  was  put  to  death.  This  was  the  process  of 
decimating  [decimus,  the  tenth). 

The  Roman  army  punished  even  the  soldier  who  escaped 
from  a  rout  or  was  taken  prisoner  by  the  enemy.  When 
Pyrrhus  restored  the  Roman  soldiers  he  had  taken  captive 
the  senate  ordered  them  degraded  and  forbade  them  to  pitch 
their  tents  within  the  camp  walls.  ^ 

Many  legends  are  told  of  the  severity  of  the  generals  of  an- 
tiquity. 

In  the  war  against  the  Latins,  the  consul  Manlius  had  for- 
bidden the  soldiers  to  fight  outside  of  the  ranks.  A  horseman 
from  Tusculum  came  to  challenge  the  Romans.  The  son  of 
Manlius  accepted  the  challenge,  killed  the  horseman  and  took 
his  arms,  returning  to  his  father  filled  with  joy.  The  consul 
sounded  the  trumpet  to  call  the  army  together;  he  then  had 
his  son  bound  lo  the  stake  and  executed  for  disobedience. 

In  the  Samnite  war,  the  dictator  Papirius,  being  obliged  to 
leave  his  army  and  return  to  Rome,  had  left  Fabius,  the  master 
of  the  horse,  to  command,  forbidding  him  to  fight  in  his 
absence :  the  omens  were  bad  ;  the  sacred  chickens  had  refused 
to  eat.  Nevertheless  Fabius,  finding  a  good  opportunity,  at- 
tacked and  defeated  the  enemy.    Papirius  immediately  rejoined 

^  See  on  page  ill  another  example  of  severity  during  the  second 
Punic  war. 


THE  ROMAN  ARMY.  S3 

his  army,  had  Fabius  brought  before  him  and  condemned  him 
to  death.  The  whole  army  murmured  against  this  action  ; 
Fabius  escaped  to  Rome  and  convoked  the  senate.  Papirius 
followed  him  and  ordered  him  seized.  The  senate  and  the  peo- 
ple entreated  liim  so  earnestly  that  he  decided  to  pardon 
Fabius,  but  he  dismissed  him  from  office  for  having  won  a 
battle  contrary  to  orders. 

Military  Exercises. — The  Romans  were  in  the  habit  of 
practising  the  arts  of  war  even  in  time  of  peace.  Those  who 
lived  at  Rome  used  the  Campus  Marti  us  for  their  manoeuvres. 
The  young  men  came  there  for  their  exercise — running, 
leaping,  throwing  the  javelin,  and  swordsmanship;  then, 
covered  with  sweat  and  dust,  they  jumped  into  the  Tiber  and 
swam  across  it. 

In  the  field  it  was  the  rule  to  drill  once  a  day.  The  men 
also  practised  military  marches  with  arms  and  equipment, 
and  manoeuvres  accu.stoming  them  to  take  and  to  change 
position  on  the  battle-field.  The  soldiers  learned  the  use  of 
pick  and  spade  in  the  construction  of  camps,  and  were  often 
employed  in  building  roads,  bridges,  and  aqueducts. 

Triumph. — The  greatest  honor  for  a  victorious  Roman 
general  was  to  be  authorized  by  the  senate  to  celebrate  a 
triumph,  that  is,  to  march  in  a  military  procession  to  the 
temple  on  the  Capitol. 

The  general  waited  with  his  army  at  the  gates  of  Rome, 
being  forbidden  by  religion  to  enter  the  city  armed.  The 
senate  investigated  his  claims  to  a  triumph;  the  ordinary 
demand  was  a  great  victory  in  which  at  least  five  thousand 
of  the  enemy  had  perished.  When  permission  was  granted, 
the  procession  was  drawn  up  as  follows : 

At  the  head  marched  the  magistrates  and  the  senators; 
then  came  the  wagons  loaded  with  booty,  and  the  captives 
in  chains.  The  procession  lasted  sometimes  more  than  a 
day.  Next  came  the  triumphal  chariot,  in  the  form  of  a 
gilded  tower,  drawn  by  four  horses.  In  this  chariot  sat  the 
victorious  general  on  an  ivory  throne,  wearing  a  purple  toga 
embroidered  in  gold,  bracelets  on  his  arms,  a  crown  of  laurel 


84  THE  ROMAN  PEOPLE, 

on  his  head,  and  his  face  painted  red  (as  it  was  customary  to 
represent  the  gods).  Behind  his  chariot  came  the  soldiers, 
with  laurel  branches  in  their  hands  and  singing  a  hymn,  lo 
Trioniphe  ! 

The  procession  crossed  the  city,  passing  through  the 
Forum,  and  mounted  the  Capitoline  hill.  There  the  general 
laid  his  crown  on  the  knees  of  the  statue  of  Jupiter  and 
thanked  him  for  granting  him  the  victory.  Meanwhile. the 
prisoners  who  had  just  appeared  in  the  procession  were 
strangled  in  the  underground  prison  of  the  Capitol. 

Colonies. — In  the  countries  which  Rome  had  subjugated, 
and  which  needed  still  to  be  watched,  the  senate  was  accus- 
tomed to  establish  permanent  garrisons  of  Roman  soldier 
farmers.     These  were  called  colonies. 

The  colonists  came  in  a  body  with  their  standard.  Their 
leader  went  through  the  foundation  ceremony  described  on 
page  15;  with  a  plough  drawn  by  a  bull  and  a  heifer  he 
traced  the  sacred  furrow  around  the  site  of  the  colony. 
Surveyors  then  laid  out  the  territory  in  rectangular  sections, 
one  of  which  was  given  to  each  colonist. 

The  colonists  remained  citizens  of  Rome;  they  still  owed 
military  service  and  had  the  right  to  vote  in  the  assemblies 
at  Rome.  Colonies  which  retained  their  full  rights  of 
Roman  citizenship  were  called  Roman  colonies.  They  were 
situated  for  the  most  part  on  the  coast. 

But  there  was  another  class  called  Latin  colonies.  The 
Roman  citizens  v/ho  formed  these  had  accepted  as  colonists 
the  Latin  rights,  instead  of  the  Roman.  They  were  self- 
governing,  but  had  no  longer  the  right  to  vote  at  Rome. 
Such  colonies  were  to  be  found  along  the  great  military 
roads. 

Military  Roads. — The  Romans  needed  good  roads  for 
the  long  marches  their  armies  had  to  make.  They  built 
causeways  of  stone  and  cement  (they  said  in  Latin  *'  build  a 
road  ");  they  also  built  arched  bridges. 

From  the  city  of  Rome  great  military  roads  led  in  all  the 


THE  ROMAN  ARMY.  85 

principal  directions.  Usually  they  formed  a  straight  line; 
even  in  the  mountain  districts  they  held  their  course,  instead 
of  winding  to  diminish  the  steepness. 

The  Appian  Way  was  the  most  frequented  of  these  roads; 
it  led  across  the  Pontine  Marshes  into  Campania. 

SOURCES. 

Polybius Bk.  VI.  §§  19^42. 

Velleius  Paterculus Bk.  i,  §§  14,  15. 

PARALLEL   READING, 

Duruy c.  xviii,  §  3. 

Mommsen Bk.  1 1,  c.  viii. 

How  and  Leigh c.  xvii,  pp.  135-142. 

Morey ...    c.  xiii,  pp.  94-97. 

Shuckburgh c.  xvi,  pp.  214-218. 


CHAPTER    VIIT. 
THH  FIRST  PUNIC  WAR. 

Carthage. — .Since  the  fifth  century  Carthage  had  been  the 
greatest  power  on  the  Mediterranean.  Founded  by  colonists 
from  Tyre,  Carthage  had  become  the  richest  of  the  Phoenician 
colonies.  It  had  a  fine  harbor  for  commerce  and  a  good 
harbor  for  war,  at  the  northern  extremity  of  Africa,  in  a 
country  which  yielded  excellent  harvests  of  wheat,  and  was 
within  easy  reach  of  Sicily,  one  of  the  richest  countries  of 
antiquity. 

Tyre,  exhausted  by  wars,  could  no  longer  defend  her 
colonies  against  the  Greeks  in  Sicily.  The  Carthaginians, 
however,  offered  them  protection  and  established  themselves 
thus  for  the  first  time  in  the  western  part  of  Sicily.  Then 
they  conquered  the  coast  of  Sardinia,  and  made  alliance  with 
all  the  Phoenician  towns  on  the  African  coast  as  far  as  the 
ocean,  finally  establishing  themselves  on  the  south  coast  of 
Spain.  In  the  sixth  century  they  had  made  alliance  with 
the  Etruscans,  thereby  gaining  the  commerce  of  northern 
Italy. 

The  Carthaginians  retained  their  Phoenician  language, 
customs,  and  religion.  They  called  their  god  Baal  and  their 
goddess  Tanith,  and  they  worshipped  after  the  manner  of 
the  Phoenicians.  A  bronze  giant  with  the  arms  extended 
downward  represented  Baal  Moloch;  human  victims  were 
placed  in  his  hands  and  immediately  slipped  down  into  a 
glowing  furnace  inside  the  giant.     Sometimes,  on  occasion 

86 


THE  FIRST  PUNIC   IV^R.  87 

of  great  danger,  the  leading  citizens  of  Carthage  sacrificed 
their  own  children  to  appease  Baal. 

The  Carthaginians  supported  themselves  chiefly  by  com- 
merce. They  went  to  Phoenicia  for  cargoes  of  Oriental 
products,  to  Spain  and  Sardinia  for  silver  from  the  mines. 
They  sold  oil  and  wheat  from  their  own  estates  in  Africa, 
and  jewels,  arms,  and  idols  made  by  their  workmen.  In 
order  to  monopolize  the  benefits  of  commerce,  they  forbade 
the  other  African  cities  to  receive  a  foreign  ship  into  their 
harbors. 

Carthage  was  governed  by  two  chiefs  {suffetes)  appointed 
for  one  year,  and  by  the  senate,  a  council  of  one  hundred 
members,  comprising  the  richest  merchants  of  the  city. 
The  rest  of  the  people  had  no  power;  the  senate,  like  that 
at  Rome,  was  the  real  master,  and  governed  in  the  interest 
of  the  merchants. 

The  Carthaginian  Army. — The  Carthaginians  did  not 
fight  their  own  battles;  they  hired  foreign  soldiers.  The  fol- 
lowing legend  explains  this  custom. 

The  Carthaginian  army  was  formerly  composed  of  the  citizens 
of  Carthage.  It  was  defeated  in  Sicily,  and  the  general  was 
exiled.  He  returned,  however,  at  the  head  of  his  troops, 
stormed  the  city  and  put  to  death  ten  members  of  the  senate. 
Later  he  was  himself  executed.  Mago,  who  was  charged  with 
the  formation  of  a  new  army,  decided  to  admit  no  more  citi- 
zens, and  filled  the  ranks  with  foreign  soldiers. 

A  Carthaginian  army  was  an  assemblage  of  bands  of 
different  peoples,  commonly  barbarians;  each  kept  to  their 
own  language  and  national  dress,  and  fought  with  their  own 
arms.  The  African  Libyans,  a  race  of  black  men,  were 
armed  with  pikes.  The  Numidians  rode  without  saddles 
on  small  but  fleet  horses;  they  were  clad  in  the  skin  of  a 
lion,  which  served  also  as  a  bed,  and  they  carried  lances  and 
bows.  They  shot  their  arrows  while  in  full  gallop,  charged 
at  the  enemy,  and  then  withdrew  to  charge  again. 

The  Iberians  of  Spain,  clad  in  red  and  white,  were  armed 
with  a  pointed  sword.     The  Gauls,  naked  to  the  waist,  pro- 


88  THE  ROMAN  PEOPLE. 

tected  themselves  with  a  broad  shield  and  fought  with  a 
great  sword  which  they  wielded  with  both  hands.  The 
Ligurians  served  as  archers. 

The  people  of  the  Balearic  Isles  had  slings,  with  which 
they  threw  pebbles  or  balls  of  lead;  the  sling  was  their 
national  weapon.  From  infancy  they  practised  the  use  of 
it;  the  child's  bread  was  hung  up  outside  the  door  and  he 
must  shoot  it  down  with  his  sling  or  go  hungry. 

All  these  foreigners  served  only  for  the  pay.  The  general 
and  all  the  officers  were  Carthaginians.  The  government  at 
Carthage  distrusted  them  and  sent  senators  with  them  always 
to  keep  watch  on  them,  and  when  they  met  with  defeat, 
condemned  them  to  crucifixion. 

The  Romans  in  Sicily. — Carthage  and  Rome  had  always 
lived  in  peace,  having  even  concluded  several  treaties  of 
friendship;  the  Carthaginians  promised  not  to  attack  the 
coasts  of  Latium,  the  Romans  not  to  navigate  the  African 
coast.  During  the  war  with  Pyrrhus,  Carthage  sent  a  fleet 
to  the  aid  of  the  Romans. 

The  two  peoples  disagreed  in  regard  to  Sicily.  Carthage 
had  succeeded  in  conquering  the  whole  of  Sicily  except  the 
eastern  coast,  where  a  Greek  colony,  Syracuse,  had  hitherto 
resisted  her.  A  Greek  general,  Hiero,  had  become  king  of 
Syracuse,  ruling  over  a  kingdom  which  covered  the  whole 
southeastern  part  of  the  island. 

At  the  northeastern  point  of  the  island,  on  the  strait  which 
separates  Sicily  from  Italy,  a  band  of  Italian  soldiers  in  the 
employ  of  the  Greeks  of  Messina  had  massacred  the  inhabit- 
ants and  established  themselves  in  Messina  under  the  name 
of  Mamertines  (people  of  Mars).  Hiero  marched  against 
them.  The  Mamertines  sought  allies,  but  could  not  agree 
together  on  the  subject ;  some  asked  help  of  Carthage  and 
introduced  a  Carthaginian  garrison  into  the  citadel;  others 
sent  to  Rome.  The  senate  hesitated,  but  the  assembly  of 
the  people  decided  in  favor  of  war  (264  b.c). 

The  Mamertines  made  alliance  with  Rome.  Carthage  joined 


THE  FIRST  PUNIC   IVAR. 


89 


Hiero,  and  their  united  armies  besieged  the  Mamertines  in 
Messina.  A  Roman  army,  entering  Sicily,  suddenly  attacked 
Hicro's  army  and  scattered  it,  invaded  his  kingdom,  and 
camped  before  Syracuse.  Hiero  sued  for  peace,  and  Rome 
restored  his  kingdom  on  payment  of  two  hundred  talents 
and  the  promise  of  alliance  with  Rome  (263  b.c). 

The  Roman  army,  having  conquered  the  eastern  part  of 
Sicily,  marched  westward,  and  besieged  Agrigentum;  the 
city  was  in  ruins,  but  behind  the  walls  was  sheltered  a 
Carthaginian  army;  the  Romans  instituted  a  blockade  and 
cut  off  all  supplies.  A  second  Carthaginian  army  then  landed 
on  the  island  with  sixty  elephants.  After  a  great  battle  it 
was  put  to  rout,  but  while  the  Romans  were  in  pursuit,  the 
beleaguered  army  took  advantage  of  a  dark  night  to  escape 
from  Agrigentum.  The  inhabitants  of  Agrigentum,  left 
alone,  asked  permission  to  surrender,  but  the  Romans 
refused,  broke  open  the  gates,  pillaged  the  city,  and  sold 
the  inhabitants  into  slavery  (262  b.c). 


Naval  Victory  of  the  Romans. — Rome  had  no  war- 
vessels,  having  used  the  ships  of  her  allies,  the  Greeks  of 
Italy.  Carthage  was  mistress  of  the  sea  and  sent  a  fleet  to 
ravage  the  coasts  of  Italy. 


90 


THE  ROMAN  PEOPLE. 


We  are  told  that  at  the  beginning  of  the  war  the  government 
at  Carthage  had  said  :  "  Without  our  permission  Rome  cannot 
even  wasli  her  hands  in  tiie  sea." 

The  senate  at  Rome  issued  orders  to  build  a  fleet  of  war- 
vessels.  The  ships  of  this  period  were  long  and  narrow  ^  and 
propelled  by  oars;  speed  could  be  secured  only  by  a  great 
number  of  rowers.  A  ship  the  size  of  a  modern  gunboat, 
carrying  a  crew  of  thirty  or  forty  men,  required  more  than 
two  hundred  rowers;  a  ship  of  five  hundred  tons  needed 
almost  four  hundred. 

The  Romans  had  only  ships  with  two  or  three  banks  of 
oars, — too  small  to  cope  with  the  Carthaginian  ships,  which 
had  five  banks  {(juinqueremes^  and  were  much  higher.  They 
therefore  decided  to  build  quinqueremes.  It  is  said  that 
they  used  as  a  model  a  Carthaginian  ship  which  had  been 
wrecked  on  the  shore  of  Bruttium.  In  two  months  they 
had  built  one  hundred  and  thirty  ships. 

Their  rowers,  who  were  not  accustomed  to  propelling  such 


ROMAN    SOLDIERS    USING    THE    "  CROW  "    IN    BOARDING,       (CONJECTURAL) 


large  ships,  had  been  practising  on  shore  while  the  ships 
were  being  built.      Mounted  on  scaffoldings  they  learned  to 

^  Eight  times  as  long  as  they  were  wide. 


THE  FIRST  PUNIC  IVAR. 


91 


manipulate  their  oars  in  the  air,  meanwhile  continuing  to 
practise  on  the  ships  anchored  in  the  harbors. 

These  vessels,  hastily  constructed  of  green  wood  and 
manned  by  inexperienced  sailors,  could  not  be  easily 
handled.  A  small  squadron  was  sent  to  the  Lipariae  Isles; 
on  the  arrival  of  some  Carthaginian  ships  the  rowers  rushed 
ashore  and  the  squadron  was  taken.  The  consul  Duilius 
then  conceived  the  idea  of  making  the  Carthaginian  sailors 
helpless  by  preventing  their  manoeuvring.  On  each  Roman 
ship  was  placed  a  machine  called  a  "crow."  This  was  a 
platform  about  thirty-six  feet  long  and  four  feet  wide,  hinged 
loosely  at  its  inner  end  to  the 
foot  of  a  short  mast  and  swung 
and  lowered  in  any  desired  di- 
rection by  a  tackle  leading  from 
the  top  of  the  mast.  The  outer 
end  of  the  affair  was  armed  with 
a  huge  spike  or  grappling-iron 
which  pierced  and  stuck  fast  in 
the  enemy's  bulwark  or  deck 
when  it  was  let  fall  upon  it. 
The  Roman  soldiers  were  thus 
able  to  rush  aboard  the  enemy's 
ship  and  the  naval  combat  be- 
came much  the  same  as  a  land 
combat,  being  decided  rather 
by  soldiers  than  by  sailors. 

Thus  equipped,  the  Roman 
fleet  sailed  to  Mylae.  The 
Carthaginians  came  out  to  meet 
them,  and  their  ships  one  by 
one  were  grappled  by  the 
Roman  ships.  The  two  com- 
batants fought  hand  to  hand. 
The    Romans    were    victorious 


0-jpi^^x^ 


COLUMN    OF 

and  took  thirty  of  the  enemy's  ships  (260  B.C.). 


THE   COLUMN    OF    DUU  II  S. 


92  THE  ROMAN  PEOPLE. 

In  Rome  a  bronze  column  was  erected  in  the  Forum 
in  memory  of  this  victory.  Duilius,  the  conqueror,  was  given 
the  right  to  be  escorted  in  the  evening  by  torch-bearers  and 
a  flute-player.  The  Roman  army  proceeded  to  take  the 
Sicilian  cities;  a  Roman  fleet  took  Corsica  from  the  Cartha- 
ginians. 

Expedition  of  Regulus  into  Africa. —  Fhe  Romans  now 
prepared  to  attack  the  city  of  Carthage  itself.  The  ex- 
pedition is  said  to  have  included  three  hundred  and  thirty 
quinquereme galleys,  each  manned  by  three  hundred  rowers; 
the  fleet  carried,  in  addition,  forty  thousand  soldiers.  Car- 
thage had,  it  is  said,  three  hundred  and  fifty  galleys  and 
fifty  thousand  soldiers  (256  b.c). 

The  two  fleets  met  off  the  promontory  of  Ecnomus.  The 
Carthaginians  were  defeated  and  retired.  The  Roman  fleet, 
finding  the  way  open,  landed  its  army  on  the  African  shore, 
in  a  fertile  country  covered  with  gardens  and  mansions. 
The  army  ravaged  the  country,  and  carried  off  the  cattle  and 
the  inhabitants. 

When  the  winter  came  the  fleet  returned  to  Italy  with  a 
part  of  the  army.  The  consul  Regulus  remained  in  Africa 
with  the  greater  part  of  the  army,  taking  the  towns  one  by 
one.  The  native  Africans  who  had  been  subjugated  by 
Carthage  against  their  will,  began  to  join  Rome.  Carthage 
was  crowded  with  people  driven  from  the  surrounding 
country  by  the  Romans.  The  Carthaginians  became  alarmed 
and  sued  for  peace.  Regulus  refused  and  laid  siege  to 
Carthage. 

Then  a  Spartan  general  named  Xanthippus  came  to  offer 
his  services  to  the  Carthaginians,  filling  them  with  renewed 
confidence.  He  trained  the  soldiers  to  fight  in  a  phalanx 
like  the  Macedonians,  and  showed  them  how  to  make  use 
of  elephants.  He  then  led  forth  his  army  and  drew  it  up  in 
line  of  battle:  in  the  centre,  fourteen  thousand  infantry;  on 
the  wings,  four  thousand  cavalry;  in  front  of  the  infantry, 
one  hundred  elephants.     The  Romans  are  said  to  have  had 


THE  FIRST  PUNIC  IV A R,  9S 

thirty  thousand  men;  they  attacked  the  infantry,  but  were 
put  to  rout  by  the  elephants  and  the  cavalry,  and  all  were 
slain.     Regulus  was  taken  prisoner  (255  b.c). 

The  Roman  garrison  which  had  remained  in  Clupea  was 
besieged;  a  Roman  fleet  had  to  be  sent  to  deliver  it  and 
carry  it  away.  The  Romans  evacuated  Africa.  On  their 
return  their  fleet  was  destroyed  by  a  storm.  The  Cartha- 
ginians punished  the  natives  for  their  desertion  by  hanging 
their  chiefs  and  making  them  pay  a  heavy  fine. 

Naval  Battles. — Both  sides  now  prepared  new  expeditions 
to  conquer  Sicily.  In  three  months  Rome  had  gathered 
together  a  fleet  of  two  hundred  and  twenty  ships,  and  suc- 
ceeded in  taking  Panormus,  the  most  important  Carthaginian 
port  (254  B.C.).  Another  fleet  ravaged  the  coast  of  Africa; 
on  its  return  it  was  destroyed  in  a  storm  (253  b.c). 

The  Roman  army,  besieged  in  Panormus,  made  a  sudden 
sally  and,  taking  the  Carthaginians  by  surprise,  drove  them 
to  the  water's  edge  and  slew  them  (250  b.c).  Metellus, 
the  victorious  general,  returned  to  Rome  with  one  hundred 
and  four  elephants  to  take  part  in  his  triumph;  afterwards 
they  were  taken  to  the  circus  and  slaughtered  to  amuse  the 
people. 

Little  by  little  the  Carthaginians  had  been  driven  into  the 
northwest  comer  of  Sicily.  Regulus  was  still  a  prisoner 
when  Carthage  sent  him  to  Rome  to  ask  for  peace  or  an 
exchange  of  prisoners;  Rome  refused.  This  embassy  gave 
rise  to  the  legend  of  Regulus. 

Regulus,  it  was  said,  himself  advised  the  senate  to  refuse  the 
exchange  of  prisoners ;  he  thus  sacrificed  his  life  in  the  interest 
of  his  country.  On  his  departure  from  Carthage  he  took  an 
oath  to  return  to  his  captivity  if  unsuccessful  in  his  mission. 
He  came  back.  The  Carthaginians  were  infuriated  by  the 
failure  of  their  envoy,  and  took  a  cruel  revenge ;  they  cut  off 
his  eyelids,  then  put  him  in  a  cask  lined  with  spikes  and  rolled 
him  down  a  hill.  His  family,  to  avenge  this  cruelty,  were  al- 
lowed to  torture  to  death  two  Carthaginian  generals  who  had 
been  taken  prisoner. 

Rome  sent  an  army  to  besiege  Lilybaeum,  but  the  siege 


94 


THE  ROMAN  PEOPLE. 


THE  FIRST  PUNIC  IVAR.  95 

failed.  The  following  year,  a  new  fleet  came  with  the 
consul  P.  Claudius,  who  planned  to  surprise  the  Carthaginian 
ships  in  the  harbor  of  Drepana.  But  the  Carthaginians, 
aware  of  his  scheme,  left  the  harbor  just  before  he  entered 
it,  and  then  turned  the  surprise  upon  the  Romans.  Their 
ships,  in  haste  to  escape  from  the  harbor,  were  jammed 
together.  In  this  disorder  the  Carthaginians  attacked  them 
and  drove  them  ashore,  where  they  were  either  sunk  or  taken 
(249  B.C.). 

The  Romans  regarded  this  defeat  at  Drepana  as  a  punish- 
ment from  the  gods. 

Claudius,  accordin<j:  to  custom,  had  brought  along  the  cage 
containing  the  s.icred  chickens.  Before  the  attack  began  he 
was  notified  that  the  sacred  chickens  refused  to  eat;  this  was  a 
sign  that  the  gods  did  not  approve  of  the  combat.  Claudius 
answered:  "Very  well;  if  they  will  not  eat,  let  them  drink," 
and  had  the  chickens  thrown  into  the  sea. 

Another  Roman  fleet  was  surprised  by  the  Carthaginian 
fleet  off  the  southern  coast  of  Sicily  and  ran  aground.  A 
storm  arose  and  the  ships  were  shattered.  Junius,  who 
commanded  the  fleet,  was  accused,  on  his  return  to  Rome, 
of  having,  like  Claudius,  ignored  the  warnings  of  the 
auguries;   he  committed  suicide. 

Hamilcar  in  Sicily. — Carthage  then  placed  (247  b.c.)  her 
army  in  Sicily  under  command  of  an  able  general  named 
Hamilcar,  surnamed  Barca  (thunder).  He  found  the 
soldiers  in  revolt,  subdued  them,  and  led  them  off  to  pillage 
the  southern  part  of  Italy.  He  then  established  himself  in 
the  northwestern  extremity  of  Sicily,  on  a  very  steep  moun- 
tain called  Eryx,  and  fortified  himself  there  (244  b.c).  The 
only  approach  on  the  land  side  was  by  two  steep  paths;  on 
the  water  side  there  was  a  bay  in  which  ships  could  anchor. 
The  defenders  received  their  provisions  by  sea  from  Drepana. 
Entrenched  in  this  natural  citadel  Hamilcar  for  three  years 
threatened  the  Roman  armies  encamped  before  the  two  ports 
remaining  to  the  Carthaginians,  Lilybaeum  and  Drepana. 

Rome  at  length  equipped  another  fleet  of  two  hundred 


/ 


96  THE  ROMAN  PEOPLE. 

quinqueremes  and  sent  it  to  blockade  the  two  ports  by  sea. 
A  battle  took  place  off  the  ^Egatian  Islands,  in  which  the 
Carthaginian  fleet  was  scattered  (241  b.c). 

Carthage  had  now  exhausted  her  resources  and  com- 
missioned Hamilcar  to  make  peace.  The  Carthaginians 
promised  to  withdraw  from  Sicily  and  to  pay  three  thousand 
two  hundred  talents  (nearly  $4,000,000)  within  ten  years 
(241   B.C.). 

The  first  Punic  war  had  given  Sicily  to  Rome.  It  became 
the  first  Roman  province. 

The  Truceless  War. — At  the  close  of  her  first  great 
struggle  with  Rome  Carthage  found  a  further  difficulty 
staring  her  in  the  face.  The  composite  and  mercenary 
character  of  her  army  has  already  been  shown.  This  host 
of  hirelings  she  found  herself  unable  to  pay.  They  soon 
revolted  and  attacked  their  masters,  and  Carthage  with  scarce 
any  citizen  soldiers  was  hard  put  to  it  to  defend  herself  from 
her  own  servants.  The  war  between  the  insurgent  troops 
and  the  native  forces  was  characterized  by  such  bitterness 
and  cruelty  on  both  sides  that  it  received  the  name  of  "  The 
Truceless  War."  After  four  years  it  resulted  in  the  practical 
extermination  of  the  revolted  mercenaries. 

Sardinia  and  Corsica. — Rome  had  taken  advantage  of 
the  struggle  in  Sardinia  to  interfere  while  Carthage  seemed 
helpless,  and  when  Carthage  protested,  declared  war  once 
more  upon  her,  and  settled  the  dispute  only  by  forcing  from 
her  rival  a  further  tribute  of  twelve  hundred  talents 
($1,500,000),    and    the    cession    of    Sardinia    and    Corsica 

(239  B.C.). 

Conquest  of  Cisalpine  Gaul. — The  Gauls  still  occupied 
all  the  region  of  the  Po  between  the  Apennmes  and  the 
Alps,  called  by  the  Romans  Cisalpine  Gaul  (this  side  of  the 
Alps).  Rome  had  decided  to  establish  colonies  south  of  the 
Po,  and  the  consul  made  a  distribution  of  lands  taken  from 
the  Boii,  the  Gallic  people  nearest  to  Roman  Italy.  The 
Boii  were  indignant  and  made  alliance  with  the  Insubres, 


THE  FIRST  PUNIC  IV A R,  97 

whose  capital  was  Mediolanum  (Milan);  they  also  took  into 
their  service  Gallic  soldiers  from  the  other  side  of  the  Alps, 
the  Gesates,  and  all  together  invaded  Italy  (225  B.C.). 

Rome  sent  out  two  armies,  one  eastward  to  the  Adriatic, 
the  other  westward  into  Etruria.  The  Gauls  overcame  the 
first  and  advanced  as  far  as  Clusium;  before  the  second, 
however,  they  were  obliged  to  retreat. 

While  they  were  retreating  along  the  coast  of  Etruria,  they 
found  themselves  caught  between  the  pursuing  army  and 
another  Roman  force  which  was  returning  from  Corsica  and 
had  landed  by  chance  at  that  very  juncture  at  Pisa.  The 
Gauls  divided  into  two  bodies,  and,  forming  a  double  front, 
fought  the  two  armies  at  once  near  Cape  Telamon.  The 
Gauls  led  the  attack  with  their  fearful  war-cry.  The 
Gesates,  tall  men  with  blue  eyes  and  red  hair,  won  honor  by 
exposing  themselves  to  danger;  they  discarded  their  shields 
and  fought  naked.  The  Gauls  were  marvellously  brave,  but 
their  swords  were  unpointed  and  of  inferior  quality,  wound- 
ing only  by  cutting,  not  by  thrusting,  and  so  heavy  that  they 
required  the  use  of  both  hands;  swords  so  poor  that  they 
bent  in  striking.  While  the  Gaul  placed  his  sword  under 
his  foot  to  straighten  it  he  was  defenceless,  and  exposed  to 
the  blows  of  the  enemy. 

The  victorious  Romans  repulsed  the  Gauls  and  then 
attacked  them  in  their  own  country.  They  subdued  first 
the  Boii  (224  b.c),  then — not,  however,  without  great  diffi- 
culty— the  Insubres  (223-222  b.c).  They  finally  seized  the 
capital  and  made  the  Gauls  give  hostages. 

In  order  to  keep  their  hold  on  the  Gauls,  Rome  estab- 
lished among  them  three  great  colonies,  Mutina,  Placentia, 
and  Cremona  (218  b.c). 

SOURCES. 

Appian Bk.  x,  cc.  i,  ii. 

Polybius Bk.  I,  §§  10-88  ;  Bk.  il,  §§  14-35. 

Plutarch Marcellus. 


98  THE  ROMAN  PEOPLE. 

PARALLEL   READING. 

Duruy cc.  xix-xxi. 

Ihne Bk.  iv,  cc.  i,  iii. 

Mommsen Bk.  ill,  cc.  i,  ii. 

Botsford c.  V,  pp.  95-104. 

How  and  Leigh. ...  cc.  xviii,  xix. 

Morey c.  xiv. 

Myers c.  vii. 

Pelham Bk.  ill,  Introd.  c.  i  to  p.  122. 

Shuckburgh cc.  xvii-xix. 

Smith,  R.  B. Carthage  a7id  the  Carthaginians  and  Rome 

and  Carthage  (Epochs  Series). 
Church,  A.  J The   Story   of    Carthage    (Stories   of   the 

Nations). 
Mahan,  A.  T The  Infiuetice  of  Sea  Power  on  History, 

pp.  14-21. 


CHAPTER    IX. 
THE   SECOND    PUNIC  WAR. 

Hannibal. — After  subduing  the  rebels  Hamilcar  had  been 
sent  to  take  command  of  the  Carthaginian  forces  in  Spain 
(237  B.C.).  This  army  was  composed  of  mercenaries,  most 
of  them  Iberians,  a  brave  and  warlike  Spanish  people. 
Hamilcar  remained  there  nine  years,  and  won  the  devotion 
of  his  soldiers. 

When  he  died  (229  b.c),  his  soldiers,  without  waiting  for 
orders  from  Carthage,  chose  for  their  general  his  son-in-law, 
Hasdrubal ;  the  home  government  approved  their  choice  and 
Hasdrubal  became  commander  of  the  Spanish  army.  He 
concluded  alliances  with  the  native  peoples,  and  founded  on 
the  seacoast  the  city  of  Carthagena  (New  Carthage),  which 
became  the  centre  of  the  Carthaginian  government  in  Spain. 

Hasdrubal  was  succeeded  by  Hannibal,  the  son  of  Hamil- 
car (221  B.C.),  then  a  young  man.  Reared  among  soldiers, 
and  knowing  no  fatherland  but  his  army,  Hannibal's  mind 
was  filled  with  thoughts  of  war.  He  led  the  life  of  a  soldier, 
eating  sparingly,  sleeping  in  his  tent,  and  speaking  familiarly 
with  his  soldiers.  Like  his  father,  Hannibal  detested  Rome. 
In  his  old  age  he  explained  to  King  Antiochus  the  origin  of 
his  hatred.  "When  my  father  set  sail  for  Spain  with  his 
army,"  he  said,  "I  was  only  nine  years  old;  the  day  he 
made  the  sacrifice  I  stood  near  the  altar.  After  the  cere- 
mony, Hamilcar  ordered  his  servants  to  withdraw,  called  me 
to  his  side  and,  caressing  me,  asked  if  I  would  not  like  to 
follow  him  to  Spain.     Eagerly  I  begged  him  to  take  me  with 

99 


loo  THE  ROMAN  PEOPLE, 

him.  Taking  me  by  the  hand,  he  led  me  to  the  altar  and, 
standing  over  the  bodies  of  the  victims,  he  said :  '  Swear  by 
these  victims  that  you  will  always  be  an  enemy  to  Rome.'  " 

Capture  of  Saguntum. — Hannibal  began  by  taking  a 
number  of  towns  and  appropriating  their  money;  he  paid  his 
soldiers  well  and  promised  them  bounties.  He  lived  among 
them,  denying  himself  every  luxury,  and  quickly  won  their 
esteem.  He  subdued  tiie  whole  country  as  far  as  the  Ebro. 
Thither  Roman  envoys  came  to  warn  him  not  to  advance 
further,  for  Hasdrubal,  by  a  treaty  with  Rome,  had  promised 
not  to  pass  the  Ebro.  They  also  forbade  him  to  attack  the 
people  of  Saguntum  (a  town  on  his  side  of  the  river),  who, 
they  said,  were  allies  of  Rome.  Hannibal  declared  that  he 
had  the  right  to  deal  with  Saguntum  as  he  pleased,  and  the 
envoys  proceeded  to  Carthage. 

Hannibal  encamped  before  Saguntum;  this  was  a  rich 
city,  lying  in  a  fertile  plain  near  the  sea,  and  inhabited  by  a 
warlike  people,  who  were  skilled  in  the  art  of  defence.  The 
siege  lasted  eight  months,  at  the  end  of  which  time  the  city 
was  finally  taken  by  assault.  The  booty  was  large.  Hanni- 
bal despatched  the  movables  to  Carthage,  gave  the  inhabitants 
to  his  soldiers  to  sell  as  slaves,  and  kept  the  money  for  the 
use  of  his  army  (219  B.C.).  . 

On  hearing  of  the  siege  of  Saguntum,  Rome  had  sent  two 
senators  to  Carthage  to  demand  reparation.  The  envoys 
were  received  in  the  senate  chamber  at  Carthage;  they 
demanded  that  Hannibal  should  be  delivered  to  the  Romans 
for  punishment  for  violation  of  the  treaty.  The  Carthaginians 
replied  that  at  the  time  the  treaty  was  made  Saguntum  was 
not  yet  an  ally  of  Rome.  Then  one  of  the  two  Roman 
envoys,  holding  up  a  fold  of  his  toga,  said:  "  I  bring  you 
here  in  this  fold  peace  and  war.  Choose  which  you  will." 
"  Give  us  which  you  will,"  was  the  answer.  *'  Then  take 
war. ' ' 

This  was  the  beginning  of  the  second  Punic  war  (218  b.c). 
Hannibal  in  Gaul. — Rome  gathered  together  two  armies. 


THE  SECOND  PUNIC   H^AR.'  lol 

one  in  Sicily  to  invade  Africa,  the  otHerna  Itiily  to  attaick 
Spain.  Hannibal,  however,  did  riot  give  them  time  to 
attack. 

He  sent  to  Africa  for  Libyan  foot-soldiers  and  Numidian 
horsemen,  and,  leaving  his  brother  Hasdrubal  with  a  fleet 
and  a  small  army  to  defend  the  country  south  of  the  Ebro, 
he  left  Carthagena  in  the  spring  (218  B.C.),  crossed  the  Ebro 
and  marched  rapidly  to  the  Pyrenees,  defeating  the  peoples 
that  tried  to  oppose  his  progress.  From  the  Pyrenees  he 
sent  back  a  part  of  his  Spanish  soldiers,  left  his  equipment 
under  guard  of  a  small  force  with  Hanno  in  command,  and 
crossed  the  mountains.  He  had  with  him  fifty  thousand 
African  and  Iberian  foot-soldiers,  five  thousand  horsemen, 
and  twenty-one  elephants. 

Entering  Gaul,  he  marched  rapidly  toward  the  Rhone. 
A  barbarian  army  encamped  on  the  left  bank  of  the  river 
attempted  to  check  his  advance.  Hannibal  halted  on  the 
right  bank,  bought  boats  and  lumber  and  constructed  rafts. 
He  sent  a  detachment  by  night  some  miles  up  the  river,  to 
cross  on  the  rafts  and  conceal  themselves  near  the  camp  of 
the  barbarians. 

The  next  day  the  bulk  of  the  army  crossed  the  river  in 
boats,  the  horses,  held  by  the  bridle,  swimming  alongside. 
The  barbarians  issued  from  the  camp  and  prepared  to  fight. 
At  this  moment  the  Carthaginian  detachment  which  was 
concealed  on  the  left  bank  came  out,  set  fire  to  the  camp, 
attacked  the  barbarians  in  the  rear,  and  put  them  to  flight. 
Hannibal's  army  crossed  the  Rhone  and  camped  on  the  left 
bank. 

The  elephants  crossed  the  river  with  difficulty.  Great 
rafts  had  been  built  and  covered  with  earth  and  grass,  so 
that  the  elephants  could  not  distinguish  them  from  the  solid 
ground.  On  these  rafts  the  elephants  were  then  towed  to 
the  opposite  shore.  The  elephants  were  at  first  frightened 
by  the  washing  about  their  feet ;  some  of  them  ev^n  fell  off 
into  the  river  and  crossed  with  only  their  trunks  above  water. 


I02      '    *'         >    "      THE  ROMAN  PEOPLE. 

'ftie  Roman  ge*nfefai,  Pulitius  Scipio,  who  had  been  sent 
to  meet  Hannibal  in  Gaul,  had  followed  the  coast.  Learn- 
ing, on  his  arrival  at  the  Rhone,  that  Hannibal  had  already 
escaped  him,  he  returned  into  Italy. 

While  Hannibal  was  advancing  towards  Italy,  the  Romans 
were  busy  fighting  the  Cisalpine  Gauls;  the  Boii  and 
Insubres  had  renewed  hostilities  and  defeated  a  Roman 
artny.  Hannibal  planned  that  they  should  all  march 
together  upon  Rome.  A  Gallic  chief  from  the  Po  valley 
addressed  the  soldiers,  and  described  Cisalpine  Gaul  as  a  rich 
country,  inhabited  by  warlike  peoples,  all  ready  to  join  the 
Carthaginians. 

Hannibal  Crosses  the  Alps. — Hannibal  led  his  army  up 
the  Rhone,  then,  turning  eastward  towards  the  Alps, 
marched  for  eight  days  over  steep  mountain  paths.  The 
mountaineers  attacked  them  a  number  of  times;  once  they 
blocked  the  way,  but  withdrew  when  night  came  on. 
Hannibal  seized  the  chance  to  send  his  best  soldiers  to  take 
the  position;  the  rest  of  the  army  followed.  The  moun 
taineers  attacked  the  rear-guard,  which  was  encumbered  by 
the  horses;  Hannibal  was  obliged  to  return  to  their  relief. 
On  the  ninth  day  the  army  reached  the  summit  and  rested 
for  two  days.  They  were  joined  there  by  the  stragglers  and 
many  horses  that  had  strayed  or  fallen  from  the  path  and 
were  given  up  for  lost. 

They  now  had  to  descend  the  Italian  slope,  by  far  the 
more  difficult  side,  by  a  narrow  path,  along  high  precipices. 
The  autumn  was  nearly  at  an  end,  and  the  new-fallen  snow 
impeded  their  progress.  The  soldiers  slipped,  and  in  falling 
pushed  against  their  comrades  and  threw  them  over  the 
precipices;  the  horses  lost  their  footing  and  fell.  The  army 
came  to  a  defile  so  narrow  and  steep  that  the  elephants 
could  not  proceed;  at  one  point  the  snow  and  ice  were  so 
deep  that  the  horses  could  not  pass.  Hannibal  made  his 
army  camp  while  he  had  the  snow  cleared  away  and  a  road 
cut  in  the  rock.     The  pack-animals  crossed  first,  then,  after 


THE  SECOND  PUNIC  IV A R.  I03 

the  Numidians  had  worked  three  days  more  at  widening  the 
path,  the  elephants  passed  safely  over. 

It  was  told  long  after  that  Hannibal  softened  the  rock  by 
heating  it  with  great  fires  and  then  pouring  on  vinegar. 

Late  in  October,  five  and  a  half  months  after  leaving 
Carthagena,  Hannibal  reached  the  land  of  the  Insubres  in 
the  valley  of  the  Po.  He  had  left  only  twelve  thousand 
Africans,  eight  thousand  Spaniards,  and  six  thousand  horse- 
men, both  men  and  horses  worn  with  travel,  and  the  troops 
looking  more  like  savages  than  soldiers. 

The  Cisalpine  Gauls  furnished  them  with  supplies,  cloth- 
ing, and  arms.  The  army  reorganized  and  began  its  march 
southward. 

Hannibal's  Victories  in  Cisalpine  Gaul  (218  b.c). — 
Publius  Scipio  had  led  his  army  back  from  Gaul  and  camped 
on  the  bank  of  the  Ticinus,  a  broad  river.  The  horsemen 
and  velites,  ^  who  had  been  sent  on  ahead,  suddenly  encoun- 
tered Hannibal's  cavalry.  The  velites  let  fly  their  javelins, 
then  fled  in  fear;  the  Roman  cavalry  dismounted  and  fought 
on  foot.  The  Numidian  cavalry  attacked  them  from  the 
rear  and  put  them  to  rout.  This  was  the  battle  of  the 
Ticinus. 

Scipio,  who  had  himself  been  wounded,  withdrew  with 
his  army  across  the  Po  and  destroyed  the  bridge,  leaving  five 
hundred  of  his  soldiers  on  the  other  side.  Hannibal  made 
them  prisoners,  crossed  the  Po  on  a  bridge  of  boats,  and 
marched  eastward. 

Scipio  meanwhile  nursed  his  wound  in  a  fortified  camp 
near  Placentia,  unwilling  to  risk  another  battle.  His  Gallic 
contingent  (two  thousand  infantry,  twelve  hundred  cavalry), 
however,  left  the  camp,  and,  surprising  the  Roman  soldiers 
in  the  open,  killed  them  and  carried  their  heads  to  Hannibal. 
The  Boii,  one  of  the  Gallic  peoples,  then  decided  to  join  the 
Carthaginians. 

*  Light-armed  foot-soldiers.     See  p.  77, 


104  THE  ROMAN  PEOPLE. 

Scipio,  disturbed  by  the  idea  of  being  in  a  hostile  country, 
broke  camp,  crossed  the  Trebia,  and  camped  on  a  hill  to 
await  the  coming  of  the  second  Roman  army,  which  was 
now  crossing  Italy  on  its  return  from  Sicily.  Hannibal  fol- 
lowed and  camped  six  miles  away. 

The  second  Roman  army  arrived.  Sempronius,  the 
consul  in  command,  favored  an  immediate  attack,  but 
Scipio  advised  him  to  wait.  Sempronius,  however,  insisted; 
the  year  was  drawing  to  a  close,  and  the  consul's  term  nearly 
over.  If  they  should  wait,  the  honor  of  defeating  Hannibal 
would  fall  to  the  new  consuls.  Scipio  yielded  to  this  argu- 
ment and  gave  orders  for  the  battle. 

Between  the  two  camps  lay  a  smooth  plain,  cut  by  the 
bed  of  a  river  whose  banks  were  covered  with  brambles;  in 
this  depression  Hannibal  concealed  a  thousand  picked  foot- 
soldiers  and  a  thousand  horsemen.  The  following  day,  the 
Numidian  horse  galloped  across  the  plain  up  to  the  Roman 
camp.  Sempronius  sent  his  cavalry  against  them,  then  his 
archers;  finally  he  came  forth  with  his  whole  army.  Snow 
had  fallen  and  the  day  was  cold;  the  Romans  had  had 
nothing  to  eat;  they  waded  up  to  their  armpits  in  the  icy 
current  of  the  Trebia.  Hannibal's  men  had  just  eaten, 
rubbed  themselves  with  oil  and  rested  before  their  fires. 
They  moved  forward,  led  by  the  archers  and  the  Balearic 
slingers  (eight  thousand  men);  in  the  rear,  the  twenty  thou- 
sand foot-soldiers  in  line;  on  the  wings,  the  ten  thousand 
horsemen  and  the  elephants. 

The  battle  was  soon  over.  The  Romans,  wet,  tired,  and 
hungry,  and  half  disarmed,  having  thrown  all  their  javelins 
against  the  Numidians,  were  attacked  in  front  by  the  ele- 
phants, on  the  flanks  by  the  cavalry,  and  in  the  rear  by  the 
Numidians,  who  had  come  out  of  their  ambuscade  by  the 
river.  Some  succeeded  in  breaking  through  Hannibal's 
infantry  and  returned  toPlacentia;  the  rest  were  forced  back 
into  the  Trebia.  The  Carthaginians  made  no  attempt  to 
cross  the  river.     The  vanquished  Romans  abandoned  their 


THE  SECOND  PUNIC   IV AR.  105 

camp  to  the  enemy.  The  Gauls,  one  and  all,  joined  the 
Carthaginians  (218  b.c). 

Hannibal  hoped  to  win  the  Italian  peoples  away  from 
Rome.  He  retained  only  such  prisoners  as  were  Romans; 
the  allies  he  sent  home  without  ransom,  saying  he  had  not 
come  to  make  war  on  them  but  to  deliver  them  from  Rome. 

Hannibal  spent  the  winter  in  this  country.  The  Africans, 
being  accustomed  to  a  warmer  climate,  suffered  intensely, 
some  of  them  dying  from  cold.  All  but  one  of  the  elephants 
perished. 

Trasumenus  (217  b.c). — In  the  spring  of  217,  Hannibal 
resumed  his  campaign.  The  new  consul,  Flaminius,  had 
stationed  his  army  in  Etruria.  To  attack  him  it  was  neces- 
sary to  cross  the  mountains.  Hannibal  avoided  the  easy 
road,  knowing  that  the  enemy  would  expect  him  to  come 
that  way,  and  chose  instead  tno  shorter  load,  across  the 
marshes  where  it  was  thought  impossible  for  an  army  to 
go,  especially  after  the  winter  rains.  At  the  head  marched 
the  Spaniards  and  Africans,  with  the  baggage;  then  the 
Gauls;  the  cavalry  formed  the  rear-guard.  The  soldiers 
spent  four  days  and  three  nights  with  their  feet  in  water  and 
without  sleep;  they  could  not  lie  down  on  the  ground  and 
they  could  not  sleep  anywhere  but  on  the  camp  baggage. 
The  pack-animals  died,  the  horses  lost  their  shoes  in  the 
bog;  Hannibal,  who  rode  on  the  last  remaining  elephant, 
fell  sick  and  lost  the  sight  of  one  eye. 

The  marshes  were  passed  at  last  and  the  Carthaginians 
were  close  to  the  Romans  while  the  latter  believed  them  still 
far  away.  Hannibal's  army  appeared  before  the  Roman 
camp,  and  ravaged  the  country,  setting  fire  to  the  houses. 
Flaminius,  seeing  the  smoke,  became  angry:  **  What  will 
they  say  at  Rome, "  he  said,  **  when  they  hear  that  we  allowed 
this  devastation  to  go  on  ?  " 

Hannibal  proceeded  towards  Rome.  Flaminius  broke 
camp  and  followed  him.  Hannibal  came  to  Lake 
Trasumenus,  a  tiny  sheet  of  water  lying  in  a  valley  and  shut 


io6 


THE  ROMAN  PEOPLE. 


in  by  hills  commanding  it  on  all  sides;  the  valley  was 
reached  by  a  narrow  path  between  the  mountain  and  the 
lake.  Hannibal  led  his  army  into  the  valley  and  encamped 
on  the  surrounding  hills.  Flaminius  came  up  in  the  eve- 
ning, and,  ignorant  of  the  enemy's  proximity,  encamped  at 
the  entrance  to  the  valley. 


SCALE  OF  MILES 


PLAN    OF    BATTLE    OF    LAKE    TRASUMBNUS. 


The  next  morning  the  Roman  army  was  on  the  road  by 
the  edge  of  the  lake,  amid  a  fog  that  concealed  the  enemy 
from  view.  Suddenly  Hannibal  gave  a  signal  and  from  all 
sides  his  soldiers  charged.  The  Romans,  taken  by  surprise, 
had  not  even  time  to  form  in  line,  and  were  either  slaugh- 
tered, or  drowned  in  the  lake.  Fifteen  thousand  of  them 
perished ;  a  body  of  six  thousand  marched  through  the  valley 
and  ascended  a  hill  at  the  lower  end  of  it.  The  fog  lifted 
and  from  the  hill  the  Romans  saw  the  wreck  of  their  army, 
and  hurried  to  make  their  own  escape.  But  Maharbal,  with 
his  horsemen  and  archers,  overtook,  surrounded,  and  captured 
them.  Hannibal  took  fifteen  thousand  prisoners  and  shared 
them  among  his  soldiers.  Then,  crossing  the  Apennines 
again,  he  reached  the  Adriatic;  along  his  line  of  march  he 
spared  the  allies,  but  massacred  all  Romans  capable  of  bear- 
ing arms.  His  army  being  in  need  of  rest,  he  paused  to  give 
his  wounded  time  to  recover,  and  obtain  fresh  horses.  Then 
he  resumed  his  march  southward  to  Apulia,  whence,  enter- 


THE  SECOND  PUNIC  iVAR.  107 

ing  the  mountains  of  Samnium  and  crossing  Italy  again, 
he  established  himself  in  the  rich  plain  of  Campania. 

Fabius  Cunctator. — At  Rome  the  senate  was  alarmed  and 
had  chosen  a  dictator,  Fabius,  surnamed  Cunctator  ("  the 
delayer");  his  plan  was  not  to  risk  a  great  battle  against 
Hannibal,  but  to  gain  time  to  mature  his  soldiers.  It  was 
chiefly  the  Numidian  cavalry  that  terrified  the  Romans. 
Fabius  therefore  shunned  plains  where  cavalry  could  operate; 
he  led  his  army  along  the  foot  of  the  mountains.  In  this 
way  he  accustomed  his  soldiers  to  the  sight  of  the  enemy  and 
cut  off  Carthaginian  horsemen  who  went  out  on  foraging 
parties.  Fabius  constantly  balked  Hannibal  in  his  move- 
ments. One  day  he  nearly  captured  him.  Hannibal  had 
established  his  camp  in  a  narrow  valley.  Fabius  seized  the 
hills  overlooking  it,  and  also  the  outlets.  He  made  ready 
to  attack  on  the  following  morning.  Hannibal,  seeing 
himself  surrounded,  devised  a  trick.  He  had  in  his  camp 
cattle  taken  by. his  soldiers;  he  chose  two  thousand  bullocks 
and  fastened  fagots  to  their  horns.  When  night  came  he 
set  fire  to  the  fagots,  and  his  soldiers,  lightly  armed,  drove 
the  bullocks  towards  the  hills,  running  and  shouting. 
Meanwhile  Hannibal  silently  marched  with  his  army  towards 
the  outlets.  A  troop  of  Romans  had  been  guarding  these 
passages,  but,  on  hearing  the  shouts  and  seeing  the  lights 
from  the  fagots  moving  on  the  hills,  they  had  concluded  that 
the  enemy  was  attacking  and  left  their  post  to  go  towards 
the  bullocks.  Fabius,  not  in  the  least  understanding  all  the 
noise,  did  not  venture  to  leave  his  camp,  so  Hannibal  suc- 
ceeded in  escaping.  He  returned  to  the  other  side  of  Italy 
and  spent  the  winter  in  Apulia. 

Rome  raised  eight  legions  of  five  thousand  men  each. 

Hannibal  resumed  the  campaign,  and  after  harvest  took 
possession  of  Cannae,  whence  the  Roman  army  drew  its  sup- 
plies. The  Roman  generals  informed  their  government  that 
it  would  not  be  possible  to  sustain  their  soldiers  in  that 
devastated  region,  and  that  the  allies  were  beginning  to  show 
signs  of  revolt.     The  senate  ordered  an  immediate  battle. 


io8 


THE  ROMAN  PEOPLE. 


Battle  of  Cannae. — In  the  spring  of  216  b.c.  the  two 
consuls  joined  the  army,  six  miles  from  Hannibal's  camp,  in 
the  valley  of  the  Aufidus  (Ofanto),  near  Cannae.  One  of  the 
consuls,  y^milius  Paulus,  was  unwilling  to  risk  a  battle  in 
the  open  plain  and  wished  to  entice  the  enemy  to  a  spot  less 
favorable  to  the  Numidian  horsemen ;  the  other  consul, 
Varro,  advised  an  immediate  attack.  They  had  divided  the 
army  between  them,  and  each  had  his  own  camp;  each  held 
command  only  on  alternate  days. 

At  daybreak  Varro  crossed  the  Aufidus  and  drew  up  his 
army  in  line  of  battle  on  the  plain.      In  front  he  placed  the 


PLAN  OF  THE 
BATTLE  OF  CANNAE 


LESSER 
ROMAN  CAMP 


-^;:^>^x'.-..._ 


^^f^AhTr.T 


OQat^cA^^P^ 


--s«^, 


a^ee 


^4R/v,£3-        "^^^lES 


^ 


AFR 


'CAN 


BATTLE    OF   CANNyE. 


velites,  on  the  wings  the  cavalry,  and  in  the  centre  the 
legionaries  (Romans  on  the  right,  allies  on  the  left);  in  all, 
eighty  thousand  foot-soldiers  and  six  thousand  horsemen. 

Hannibal  placed  at  the  head  of  his  army  the  slingers  and 
archers,  on  the  left  wing  Hasdrubal  with  the  Spanish  and 
Gallic  horsemen,  on  the  right  wing  Hanno  with  the 
Numidian  horsemen,  and  in  the  centre  the  foot-soldiers. 
The  Spaniards,  with  their  tunics  of  linen  embroidered  with 


THE  SECOND  PUNIC   IVAR. 


lOQ 


purple,  and  their  pointed  swords,  the  Gauls,  half-naked  and 
armed  with  their  heavy  swords,  were  in  the  middle;  on  either 
side  the  Africans  armed  after  the  Roman  fashion  with  arms 
taken  from  the  Romans;  in  all  forty  thousand  foot-soldiers 
and  ten  thousand  horsemen, — slightly  more  than  half  as 
many  as  the  Romans,  but  with  two  years'  experience  in  the 
art  of  war. 

At  first  the  light-armed  soldiers  fought  on  both  sides  with- 
out result.  Then  the  Spanish  and  Gallic  horsemen  on  the 
left  attacked  the  Roman  horsemen.  The  Romans  could  not 
fight  on  horseback,  so  they  dismounted  and  fought  on  foot, 
and  were  all  slain. 

The  Roman  legionaries  now  advanced  upon  Hannibal's 
centre,  composed  of  the  Spanish  and  Gallic  infantry;  by  a 


CARTHAGINIAN    HELMET    FOUND    AT    CANN^. 


bold  and  difficult  manoeuvre  this  infantry  retired  slowly  back, 
still  fighting;  the  legionaries  followed  close  upon  them,  until 
they  were  in  the  very  heart  of  Hannibal's  army.  All  at  once 
the  African  foot-soldiers  on  either  side  closed  in  and  attacked 
the  Romans  on  both  flanks,  putting  them  to  rout.  Has- 
drubal's  horsemen,  who  had  just  put  the  Roman  cavalry  to 


no  THE  ROMAN  PEOPLE. 

flight,  came  to  join\  the  Numidians.  They  hastened  in 
pursuit  of  the  fleeing  Romans  and  slew  them. 

Seventy  thousand  Romans  were  killed,  only  three  thou- 
sand foot-soldiers  and  three  hundred  and  seventy  horsemen 
escaping.  The  Gauls  lost  four  thousand  men,  the  Spaniards 
and  Africans  but  fifteen  hundred. 

The  Romans  had  left  a  guard  of  ten  thousand  men  in 
their  camp ;  these  were  surrounded  by  the  enemy  and  forced 
to  surrender. 

Rome  had  never  suffered  such  a  defeat  as  the  Cannae 
disaster,  ^milius  had  been  killed,  and  with  him  a  number 
of  the  young  nobles.  Every  wealthy  Roman  wore  a  gold 
ring;  so  many  were  left  on  the  battle-field  that  Hannibal  sent 
a  bushel  of  these  rings  back  to  Carthage. 

War  in  Southern  Italy. — Rome  was  at  first  wild  with 
consternation,  expecting  every  day  to  see  Hannibal  attack 
the  city.  Roman  courage  was  not  daunted,  however;  the 
city's  defences  were  strengthened  and  new  legions  raised. 
When  Varro,  the  consul  defeated  at  Cannae,  returned  to 
the  city,  the  people  went  out  in  a  body  to  meet  him  and 
the  senate  tendered  him  a  vote  of  thanks  for  not  having 
despaired  of  the  Republic. 

Hannibal    did    not   attempt  to  march  on   Rome,    finding 

doubtless  that  his  army  was  too  weary  or  too  weak  to  attack 

such  a  great  city.      This  caused  great  surprise  and  gave  rise 

to  the  following  story: 

In  the  evening  after  the  battle  of  Cannae  Maharbal,  one  of 
the  leaders  of  the  cavalry,  said  to  Hannibal  :  "  Give  orders  to 
march  and  in  three  days  yon  will  dine  at  the  Capitol."  Hanni- 
bal refused.  Maharbal  thereupon  cried  :  "  You  know  how  to 
gain  a  victory,  Hannibal,  but  you  do  not  know  how  to  take  ad- 
vantage of  it  ! " 

Hannibal  proposed  to  the  senate  to  send  back  the  soldiers 
taken  in  the  Roman  camp  at  a  very  low  price  (less  than  sixty 
cents  a  head).  He  sent  on  this  mission  ten  prisoners  on 
parole  to  return.  The  senate  heard  their  request;  they 
explained  that  they  had  not  been  taken  in  flight  or  through 


THE  SECOND  PUNIC   IV AR.  ill 

any  fault  of  their  own,  but  in  the  camp  where  their  general 
had  left  them.  Rome  \\as  in  great  need  of  soldiers.  The 
senate,  however,  declared  that  a  Roman's  salvation  lay  only 
in  victory,  and  refused  to  pay  the  ransom. 

The  soldiers  who  had  escaped  slaughter  at  Cannae  were 
punished  by  the  senate  for  not  having  died  at  their  post. 
They  were  sent  to  Sicily,  where  they  were  allowed  no  food 
but  barley  and  were  obliged  to  live  outside  of  the  camp. 
•  The  peoples  of  southern  Italy,  who  were  subject  to  Rome 
only  through  force,  joined  Carthage  on  hearing  of  Rome's 
defeat.  The  Samnites,  the  Lucanians,  and  the  wealthy  city 
of  Capua,  all  made  alliance  with  Hannibal.  The  Romans 
retained  only  the  Greek  cities  on  the  seacoast. 

Hannibal  established  himself  in  southern  Italy  and 
remained  there  thirteen  years,  trying  to  subjugate  or  win 
away  the  allies  of  Rome.  The  winter  following  the  battle 
at  Cannae  his  army  passed  in  Capua,  a  city  of  luxury  and 
pleasures,  famous  at  this  period  for  its  games,  banquets,  and 
shows.  According  to  the  popular  saying  of  the  day, 
Hannibal's  soldiers  plunged  into  the  dissipations  of  Capua ^ 
and  lost  their  strenuous  quality.  They  won  no  more  great 
victories,  and  Rome  gradually  regained  her  superiority. 

In  211  B.C.  the  Romans  laid  siege  to  Capua.  Hannibal, 
in  order  to  force  them  to  raise  the  siege,  marched  suddenly 
towards  Rome;  but  the  army  around  Capua  did  not  move. 
Rome  was  too  well  fortified  to  be  taken  by  assault,  and 
Hannibal  withdrew. 

The  Capuans  were  starved  into  surrender.  The  leader  of 
the  party  opposed  to  the  Romans  invited  his  frifends  to  a 
last  feast;  at  the  end  of  the  banquet  he  had  brought  to  him 
a  cup  full  of  a  violent  poison,  and  took  from  it  the  first  sip; 
each  of  the  guests  then  drank  from  it  in  turn.  Five  hundred 
of  the  wealthiest  inhabitants  of  Capua  were  taken  .to  Rome, 
where  they  were  scourged  and  beheaded. 

Taking  of  Syracuse. — The  Carthaginians  had  tried  to 
regain  the  lower  part  of  Sicily.     In  Syracuse,  hitherto  allied 


112  THE  ROMAN  PEOPLE. 

with  Rome,  a  general  of  the  party  opposed  to  Rome  took 
command  after  a  civil  war. 

Rome  sent  an  army  to  besiege  Syracuse  by  land,  and  a 
fleet  to  besiege  her  by  sea. 

Archimedes,  the  most  famous  mathematician  of  antiquity, 
lived  in  Syracuse.  He  had  invented  new  war-machines 
which  wrought  havoc  among  the  besiegers.  Catapults  placed 
on  the  city  walls  hurled  great  rocks  at  the  ships  and  crushed 
them.  Iron  teeth  worked  by  machinery  seized  the  enemy's 
soldiers  and  threw  them  high  in  the  air. 

The  Romans  thought  they  could  reach  the  top  of  the  city 
wall  from  the  sea.  They  brought  two  ships  to  the  foot  of 
the  wall  and  fastened  them  together;  then  they  leaned 
against  the  wall  a  huge  ladder  topped  by  a  platform  which 
was  on  a  level  with  the  wall;  the  soldiers  on  the  platform 
were  to  lower  a  drawbridge  and  pass  over  it  to  the  wall. 
But  a  Syracusan  machine  wielding  an  iron  hand  seized  the 
ship  by  the  prow,  turned  it  upside  down  and  then  either 
sank  it  in  the  sea  or  broke  it  to  pieces  on  the  rocks. 

The  besieging  army  at  length  grew  so  afraid  of  these 
inventions  of  Archimedes  that  the  mere  sight  of  a  rope  or  a 
stake  put  them  to  flight. 

Marcellus,  the  Roman  general,  gave  up  the  idea  of  taking 
Syracuse  by  assault  and  decided  to  blockade  it.  The  fol- 
lowing year  Syracuse  was  taken  and  pillaged  and  Archimedes 
killed  (212  B.C.). 

The  following  story  is  one  of  those  told  concerning  his 

death : 

A  Rorrian  soldier  was  sent  by  Marcellus  to  find  Archimedes. 
He  found  him  so  absorbed  in  a  problem  that  he  had  not  even 
heard  the  enemy  enter  the  city;  he  begged  the  soldier  to  spare 
his  life  until  he  should  discover  the  solution.  The  soldier  was 
exasperated  and  killed  him  at  once,  thereby  incurring  the  dis- 
pleasure of  Marcellus. 

Defeat  and  Death  of  Hasdrubal. — While  Hannibal  was 
fighting  in  Italy  his  brother  Hasdrubal,  who  had  remained 
in  Spain,  was  engaged  in  a  bitter  struggle  against  a  Roman 


THE  SECOND  PUNIC  IV AR.  113 

army.  In  217  b.c.  the  Romans,  after  their  victory,  had 
established  themselves  at  Tarragona;  they  then  drove  back 
the  Carthaginians  towards  the  south,  regained  Saguntum 
(214  B.C.),  and  finally  took  Carthagena.  In  the  latter  city 
they  found  the  wives  and  children  of  the  principal  native 
chiefs,  who  were  kept  by  the  Carthaginians  as  hostages 
(210  B.C.). 

Hasdrubal  resolved  to  abandon  Spain  and  join  his  brother 
in  Italy.  With  a  small  army  of  Spaniards  he  eluded  the 
Romans  and  crossed  the  Pyrenees  into  Gaul ;  the  following 
year  he  reached  Cisalpine  Gaul.  The  Gauls,  ever  hostile  to 
Rome,  joined  him,  and  he  advanced  to  the  shore  of  the 
Adriatic. 

Rome  now  had  to  meet  the  two  brothers  at  once.  One 
army,  commanded  by  Claudius,  one  of  the  consuls,  was 
engaged  against  Hannibal  in  the  south  of  Italy;  the  other, 
under  Livius,  the  other  consul,  went  to  meet  Hasdrubal  in 
the  north.  Hasdrubal  sent  a  messenger  to  his  brother  to 
inform  him  of  his  arrival,  but  his  messenger  was  taken  by 
the  Romans. 

Claudius,  on  learning  of  Hasdrubal's  plans,  left  a  part  of 
his  toops  in  his  camp,  opposite  Hannibal,  and  hurriedly 
marched  with  the  bulk  of  his  army  to  join  his  colleague 
Livius.  One  day  Hasdrubal  heard  the  sound  of  trumpets  in 
the  Roman  camp  announcing  the  presence  of  the  two  con- 
suls, and  found  himself  face  to  face  with  the  two  Roman 
armies. 

He  was  anxious  to  avoid  a  battle,  but  his  guides  deserted 
him,  and  he  was  attacked  by  the  Roman  cavalry  while 
marching  near  the  Metaurus,  a  mountain  torrent.  The 
Spanish  soldiers  were  overwhelmed  by  the  superior  numbers, 
the  Gauls  broke  ranks  and  all  were  slaughtered.  Hasdrubal 
was  killed  {20J  b.c).  The  victorious  Romans  returned  to 
confront  Hannibal,  and  flung  into  his  camp  the  head  of 
Hasdrubal.  Hannibal  withdrew  into  Bruttium,  the  southern 
extremity  of  Italy. 


114  THE  ROMAN  PEOPLE. 

HannibaPs  Departure. — In  Spain  the  Romans  forced  the 
Carthaginians  to  evacuate  every  one  of  their  strongholds. 
Mago,  the  last  Carthaginian  general  in  Spain,  finally  deserted 
his  only  remaining  post,  the  city  of  Gades  (Cadiz),  which 
had  joined  the  Romans  (206  b.c). 

This  Spanish  war  won  fame  for  a  young  Roman  general 
named  Scipio  (Publius  Cornelius  Scipio).  He  was  elected 
consul  in  205  b.c.  and  sent  to  Sicily.  With  the  aid  of  the 
Sicilians  he  fitted  out  a  fleet  and  carried  his  army  to  Africa 
(204  B.C.).  A  Numidian  prince,  Massinissa  by  name,  had 
just  become  embroiled  with  Carthage,  and  made  alliance 
with  the  Romans.  Scipio  thus  brought  the  war  back  into 
Africa. 

He  remained  there  two  years,  wintering  his  army  near 
Carthage.  At  the  end  of  the  second  year  the  Carthaginians, 
twice  defeated,  sued  for  peace.  Scipio  would  grant  only  a 
truce,  and  that  only  on  condition  that  Carthage  should 
withdraw  all  her  troops  from  Italy  [20'^  b.c). 

Hannibal  received  orders  to  come  home.  He  set  sail  with 
his  soldiers  and  all  those  Italian  allies  who  were  willing  to 
follow  him  to  Africa.  Those  who  refused  to  leave  Italy  were 
massacred. 

The  Romans  said  that  Hannibal  wept  with  rage  at  abandoning 
Italy,  where  he  had  won  so  many  great  victories  and  which  he 
had  hoped  to  conquer. 

Battle  of  Zama. — Hannibal  landed  at  Leptis,  some  dis- 
tance south  of  Carthage,  and  marched  against  Scipio.  He 
came  up  with  the  Roman  army  near  Zama,  five  days'  march 
from  Carthage.  Before  the  battle  he  asked  for  an  interview 
with  Scipio.  The  interview  took  place,  but  nothing  came 
of  it. 

The  next  day  both  armies  drew  up  in  line  of  battle  on  the 
plain.  Scipio  placed  in  the  centre  his  legions  in  three  lines, 
according  to  Roman  custom;  on  the  left  wing  the  Italian 
cavalry,  in  command  of  his  friend  Laelius;  on  the  right 
Massinissa's  Numidian  cavalry:  in  all,  twenty-two  thousand 


THE  SECOND  PUNIC   1VAR. 


IIS 


men.  Hannibal  placed  in  advance  his  eighty  elephants;  on 
the  left  wing  his  Numidian  horsemen;  on  the  right  wing  his 
Carthaginian  horsemen.  The  infantry  formed  the  centre, 
arranged  in  three  lines,  one  behind  the  other:  first,  the 
European  mercenaries;  second,  the  Africans;  third,  the 
picked  soldiers,  the  old  Italian  compaigners:  in  all,  fifty 
thousand  men. 

The  eltphants  opened  the  attack;  but  some  of  them, 
alarmed  by  the  noise  of  the  Roman  trumpets,  fell  back  upon 
the  Numidians  and  broke  up  their  ranks;  the  others  had  to 
be  withdrawn.  The  Carthaginian  cavalry  on  the  right  was 
attacked  by  the  Roman  cavalry  and  thrown  into  confusion. 

Hannibal's  infantry  now 
advanced  stt'p  by  step;  the 
legionaries  on  one  side, 
on  the  other  the  first  line 
of  the  Carthaginians.  The 
Romans  were  shouting 
and  beating  upon  their 
shields,  while  the  Car- 
thaginian mercenaries 
shouted  their  war-cry, 
each  in  his  own  timgue. 
The  second  Roman  line 
joined  the  battle.  They 
fought  at  close  quarters. 
Hannibal's  second  line, 
the  Africans,  instead  of 
supporting  the  first  line, 
stood  motionless.  The 
mercenaries  were  infuria- 
ted; they  fell  upon  the 
Africans  and  began  to 
kill  them.  In  the  midst 
of  this  disorder  they  were  themselves  attacked  and  routed  by 
the  third  line  of  the  Romans. 


SCIHIO    AFRICANUS    (viSCONTi). 

Bust  at  Naples. 


Il6  THE  ROMAN  PEOPLE. 

The  panic-stricken  Carthaginians  fled  for  aid  to  the  third 
line,  the  veterans  whom  Hannibal  was  keeping  in  reserve. 
Hannibal,  wishing  to  preserve  order  in  his  third  line,  com- 
manded his  veterans  to  present  the  point  of  their  pikes. 
The  fleeing  Carthaginians,  thus  repulsed,  turned  to  the 
wings.  The  battle-field  was  strewn  with  dead  and  wounded. 
Scipio  had  his  wounded  carried  to  the  rear;  he  then 
sounded  a  retreat,  collected  all  his  legionaries,  and  drove 
them  in  a  mass  upon  the  enemy.  The  veterans  met  the 
shock  bravely  and  made  a  long  resistance.  Finally  the 
cavalry  of  Laelius  and  Massinissa,  having  routed  that  of 
Carthage,  made  a  rear  attack  on  the  veterans  and  forced 
them  to  flee.  Scipio  pursued  them  and  took  Hannibal's 
camp  (202  B.C.). 

End  of  the  War. — Carthage  could  offer  no  further  resist- 
ance. She  sued  for  peace  and  accepted  all  the  conditions 
Scipio  offered :  Carthage  must  return  all  prisoners,  deliver 
up  all  deserters,  and  surrender  all  her  elephants  and  all  but 
ten  of  her  war-vessels;  she  bound  herself  to  pay  two  hundred 
talents  yearly  for  fifty  years,  ^  to  restore  to  Massinissa,  the  allj 
of  Rome,  all  the  lands  that  had  belonged  to  him,  and  to 
enter  into  no  war  without  the  consent  of  the  Roman  people. 
Carthage  thus  ceased  to  be  a  great  power  and  became 
dependent  on  Rome.  As  a  guarantee  of  good  faith,  Scipio 
reserved  the  right  to  choose  one  hundred  Carthaginians 
between  the  ages  of  fourteen  and  thirty,  and  hold  them  as 
hostages.  Hannibal  himself  urged  Carthage  to  accept,  the 
treaty  (201  b.c). 

It  was  reported  that,  hearing  a  member  of  the  senate  at 
Carthage  speak  against  the  treaty,  Hannibal  picked  him  up  and 
threw  him  out  of  his  seat.  He  then  apologized  to  the  senate. 
After  thirty-six  years'  absence,  he  said,  he  had  forgotten  the 
proper  way  to  act,  and  he  had  been  unable  to  repress  his  indig- 
nation at  seeing  a  Carthaginian  who  did  not  thank  fortune  that 
peace  had  been  granted  on  such  favorable  terms ;  he  suggested 

P  This  was  $250,000  a  year,  or  $12,500,000  in  all.  Some  authorities 
add  that  a  lump  sum  of  4000  talents  ($5,000,000)  in  cash  was  exacted.] 


THE  SECOND  PUNIC  IVAR. 


117 


that,  on  the  contrary,  prayers  should  be  offered  to  the  gods  to 
make  the  Roman  people  ratify  the  treaty. 

Rome  was  henceforth  the  sole  great  power  in  the  West. 
She  revenged  herself  on  the  peoples  of  southern  Italy  who 
had  supported  Hannibal. 


SPAIN — HANNIBAL  S    ROUTE. 


The  Cisalpine  Gauls  were  not  yet  subdued.  They  still 
made  war  against  Rome,  led,  it  is  said,  by  two  Carthaginian 
generals,  Mago  and  Hamilcar.  This  time  the  three  principal 
Gallic  peoples  united  against  the  Roman  colonies.  They 
took  Placentia  and  destroyed  it,  then  laid  siege  to  Cremona. 
The  war  lasted  several  years  and  was  very  disastrous.  Rome 
sent  out  both  her  consuls  at  once,  and  the  Gauls  called  for 
a  general  uprising. 

Finally  the  Cenomani,  the  eastern  Gauls,  espoused  the 
cause  of  Rome.  The  two  other  Gallic  peoples  were  van- 
quished; the  Insubres  (Milan  district)  surrendered;  the 
Boii,  rather  than  submit  to  Rome,  emigrated  to  the  Danube. 


ii8 


THE  ROMAN  PEOPLE. 


Rome  filled  their  country   with   strong   colonics,    Bologna, 
Modena,  and  Parma.     A  military  road,  the  Via  Emilia,  was 


built  across  the  coun- 
try to  Placentia. 

The  Romans,  being  now 
in    undisputed   possession 
Spain,  took  control  of  the  s 
mines  and  the  Mediterranean  coast 
that    had    belonged    to   the    Cartha- 
ginians. 

The  second  Punic  war  had  destroyed  the 
power  of  Carthage  and   given    to    Rome     hannibal's  route. 
Cisalpine  Gaul  and  Spain. 

SOURCES. 

Appian Foreign  Wars,  Bks.  VI,  §§  1-38.  vii,  viii, 

Part  I. 

Eutropius Bk.  iii,  §§  3-1 3. 

Livy Bks.  xxi-xxx. 

Nepos Life  of  Hannibal, 

Plutarch Fabius  Maxiinus,  Marcellus. 

Polybius Bks.  \\-y^N ,  passitn. 


SeCOND    PUNIC  WAR- 


THE  SECOND  PUNIC  IVAR. 


119 


PARALLEL   READING. 

Duruy cc.  xxii-xxv. 

Ihne Bk.  1  v,  cc.  viii,  ix, 

Mommsen Bk.  iii,  cc.  iv-vii. 

Botsford '. . .  c.  iv,  pp.  104-1 16. 

How  and  Leigh cc.  xx-xxii. 

Morey c.  xv. 

Myers c.  ix. 

Pelham Bk.  in,  c.  i,  pp.  122-134. 

Shiickburgh    cc.  xx-xxii. 

Morris,  W.  O.. . Hannibal  (Heroes). 

Dodge,  T.  A Hafinibal  (Great  Captains). 

Creasy,  E.  S.    ......  Decisive  Battles,  c.  iv. 

Arnold,  T History  of  Rome,  cc.  xliii-xlvii. 


.^ililMI'iijJJllMttlimiiik^ttliJiliK 


•...ru"«rliiiillUiM%ii)))# 


SOLDIERS    STORMING    A    TOWN. 


CHAPTER    X. 
CONQUEST  OF  THE  BASIN  OF  THE  MEDITERRANEAN. 

War  against  Philip,  King  of  Macedonia. — There  were 
in  the  East  three  great  kingdoms  governed  by  Greek  kings, 
descended  from  the  successors  of  Alexander, — Macedonia, 
Syria,  and  Egypt. 

The  king  of  Macedonia  was  Rome's  nearest  neighbor. 
He  was  the  first  to  go  to  war  with  her. 

The  Romans  had  begun  to  settle  on  the  other  side  of  the 
Adriatic,  in  the  country  then  known  as  Illyria.  They  had 
come  first  in  229  b.c.  to  put  down  the  pirates  who  were 
destroying  shipping  on  the  Adriatic,  and  ever  since  they  had 
had  the  alliance  of  the  Greek  colonies  on  the  coast  of  Epirus, 
who  lived  by  commerce  with  the  interior  (Corcyra,  Apol- 
lonia,  Epidamnus). 

In  215  B.C.,  while  Hannibal  was  making  war  in  Italy, 
King  Philip  made  alliance  with  him  against  Rome.  Almost 
all  the  Greeks,  however,  detested  Philip,  and  they  joined 
the  Romans.  After  nine  years  of  fruitless  warfare,  Philip 
made  peace  with  Rome  (205  b.c). 

He  continued  to  make  war  on  the  Greeks.  He  got 
together  a  fleet  of  war-vessels  and  began  to  conquer  the  coast 
of  Asia.  The  people  of  Rhodes  and  Athens  became  alarmed 
and  called  on  Rome  for  aid. 

Now  that  the  Punic  war  was  at  an  end,  the  senate  advised 
the  renewal  of  war  against  the  king  of  Macedonia.  The 
consul,  according  to  custom,  convoked  the  assembly  of  the 
people;  the  citizens,  exhausted  and  impoverished  by  twenty 

^  120 


CONQUEST  OF  THE  MEDITERR/INEAN  BASIN.       T2I 

years  of  war,  voted  against  the  senate.  At  the  senate's 
request  the  consul  called  the  assembly  together  once  more 
and  addressed  it.  This  time  the  people  voted  as  the  senate 
wished  (200  b.c). 

Rome  had  a  number  of  allies  in  this  war:  Massinissa  sent 
his  Numidian  horsemen;  Carthage  furnished  wheat;  Rhodes 
and  Pergamum,  Greek  cities  in  Asia,  gave  ships;  the 
i^tolians,  the  best  fighters  in  Greece,  sent  their  cavalry  to 
ravage  Thessaly;  the  Barbarians  of  lllyria  and  Thrace 
invaded  Macedonia  from  the  north  and  northwest. 

Philip,  in  addition  to  his  own  kingdom,  had  the  support 
of  Thessaly,  Euboea,  Bceotia,  and  the  Greek  cities  on  the 
coast  of  Thrace. 

At  first  the  Romans  mismanaged  the^war  badly.  After 
two  years  the  Roman  army,  leaving  the  coast  of  lllyria, 
vainly  endeavored  to  enter  Thessaly.  The  soldiers  became 
discontented  with  the  lack  of  booty,  and  demanded  their 
discharge. 

At  length  Quintius  Flamininus,  a  new  consul  only 
thirty-two  years  of  age,  took  command  of  the  army  and 
encamped  in  Epirus  opposite  Philip.  Shepherds  offered 
their  services  as  guides,  and  led  four  thousand  picked 
soldiers  across  the  mountains,  hiding  through  the  day  and 
marching  all  night  by  moonlight ;  in  two  nights  they  reached 
Philip's  camp.  They  attacked  the  Macedonians  from  both 
sides  at  once  and  put  them  to  flight.  The  Romans  entered 
Thessaly,  thus  cutting  communication  between  Philip  and 
hxS  Greek  allies,  and  forcing  the  latter  to  submit  to  Rome 

(198   B.C.). 

Philip  was  now  alone  with  his  army.  He  had  increased 
his  force  to  twenty-five  thousand  by  enlisting  the  services  of 
all  subjects  over  sixteen  years  of  age. 

Battle  of  Cynoscephalae. — The  Roman  army  was  operat- 
ing in  Thessaly  in  a  plain  cut  by  trees,  hedges,  and  gardens 
which  they  ravaged  on  their  way.  Philip  was  manoeuvring 
on  the  other  side  of  a  chain  of  hills  which  crossed  this  plain. 


122  THE  ROMAN  PEOPLE. 

For  two  days  the  two  armies  marched  side  by  side,  separated 
only  by  an  elevation  in  the  land,  each  unconscious  of  the 
other's  proximity;  neither  had  scouts,  a  piece  of  carelessness 
very  common  at  the  time. 

The  third  day,  following  a  damp  night,  was  dark  and 
foggy.  Philip  sent  a  body  of  troops  to  occupy  the  heights 
which  separated  him  from  the  enemy  (these  rounded  hills 
were  called  the  CynoscephalcB,  dogs'  heads). 

Flamininus  from  his  side  sent  towards  the  hills  a  body  of 
horsemen  and  velites  who,  to  their  surprise,  fell  in  with  a 
party  of  Macedonians.  They  began  to  fight,  both  sides 
sending  for  reinforcements. 

Flamininus  sent  the  ^tolians,  Philip  his  Thessalian  and 
Macedonian  cavalry.  The  Romans  were  already  driven  from 
the  hills,  but  the  ^tolian  cavalry  checked  their  retreat.  A 
messenger  came  to  tell  Philip  that  the  barbarians  were  in 
flight  and  that  he  must  seize  the  opportunity  to  attack  them. 
The  spot  was  ill  chosen  for  the  Macedonians.  Their 
phalanx,  a  great  mass  of  sixteen  thousand  foot-soldiers 
armed  with  long  lances,  needed  an  open  space  to  manoeuvre 
without  breaking  ranks.  Philip,  however,  could  not  let  the 
chance  escape  him ;  he  advanced  the  right  wing  to  take  its 
position  on  the  hills.     . 

Then  Flamininus,  leaving  his  right  wing  at  rest  behind 
the  elephants,  led  the  left  wing  to  the  combat.  The 
Macedonians  advanced  on  the  Romans  with  their  pikes  held 
low;  war-cries  were  heard  on  every  side.  The  Romans  at 
first  yielded  to  the  force  of  the  charge.  The  left  wing  of  the 
phalanx,  which  had  been  left  behind,  had  now  nearly  reached 
the  top  of  the  hill.  The  Remans'  right  wing  advanced,  led 
by  the  elephants. 

The  Macedonians  could  not  hold  their  rank  on  such  a 
battle-field;  they  could  not  hear  their  orders,  and  the 
elephants'  charge  was  forcing  them  to  give  way.  At  this 
critical  moment  a  Roman  officer  suddenly  realized  how 
favorable  this  ground  was  to  the  manoeuvres  of  the  small 


CONQUEST  OF   THE  MEDITERRANEAN  BASIN.       123 

units  of  which  the  Roman  army  was  composed.  Taking 
twenty  maniples  from  the  right  wing,  he  led  them  to  the 
assistance  of  the  left  wing  and  attacked  the  Macedonians 
from  the  rear. 

The  troops  in  phalanx,  packed  close  together  and  encum- 
bered by  their  long  pikes,  could  neither  turn  nor  defend 
themselves  individually;  they  cast  away  their  now  useless 
pikes  and  fled.  The  Romans  hurried  in  pursuit.  Meeting 
a  band  of  Macedonians  with  pikes  uplifted  in  token  of 
surrender,  the  Romans,  ignorant  of  this  custom,  slew  them 
until  stopped  by  Flamininus.  Eight  thousand  Macedonians 
were  killed  and  five  thousand  taken  prisoner.  The  Romans 
lost  seven  hundred  men  (197  b.c). 

Philip  sued  for  peace  and  Rome  granted  it,  on  these  con- 
ditions: Philip  must  surrender  his  fleet  and  all  his  possessions 
in  Greece,  and  promise  to  make  Rome's  friepds  and  enemies 
his  own  in  the  future. 

Flamininus  then  proceeded  to  Corinth  to  announce  to  the 
Greek  peoples  that  Rome  had  delivered  them  from  the  king 
of  Macedonia  (196  b.c). 

War  against  Antiochus. — At  this  time  the  king  of  Syria, 
Antiochus  II.,  surnamed  the  Great,  was  endeavoring  to 
establish  a  great  empire.  He  had  made  an  expedition  into 
India,  whence  he  was  said  to  have  brought  back  one  hundred 
and  fifty  elephants.  Little  by  little  he  took  possession  of 
the  coast  of  Asia  Minor,  then  passed  the  Hellespont  and 
began  to  take  the  cities  on  the  coast  of  Thrace. 

Eumenes,  king  of  the  little  Greek  kingdom  of  Pergamum, 
asked  Rome  for  aid  against  his  overpowerful  neighbor:  The 
senate  called  upon  Antiochus  to  leave  Europe  and  confine 
himself  to  Asia.  Antiochus  replied  that  he  had  never  inter- 
fered in  the  Romans'  affairs  in  Italy  and  did  not  recognize 
their  right  to  interfere  in  his  affairs  in  the  East. 

It  was  about  this  time  that  Hannibal  arrived  at  the  court 
of  Antiochus.  After  the  close  of  the  second  Punic  war  he 
had  governed  Carthage,  and  labored  constantly  to  restore  its 


124  THE  ROMAN  PEOPLE. 

power  and  to  reorganize  the  army.  The  Roman  senate 
became  alarmed  and  ordered  Carthage  to  deliver  Hannibal 
to  Rome.  The  old  soldier  was  expecting  this  and  kept  a 
ship  ready  to  sail  at  any  time;  he  proceeded  to  Asia,  and 
offered  his  services  to  Antiochus. 

It  was  said  that  Hannibal  offered  to  take  an  army  into  Italy 
and  begin  the  war;  but  that  Antiochus  refused  through  jeal- 
ousy of  Hannibal. 

The  iEtolians,  who  had  just  been  fighting  with  Rome 
against  Philip,  were  greatly  dissatisfied.  Their  hope  of 
retaining  Thessaly  had  been  frustrated  by  the  Romans. 
Thoas,  one  of  their  chiefs,  went  to  Antiochus  and  persuaded 
him  to  accept  their  alliance  in  order  to  drive  the  Romans 
out  of  Greece. 

Rome  did  not  take  the  offensive,  being  too  busy  fighting 
the  Cisalpine  Gauls  and  the  Spaniards.  But  before  Antiochus 
had  his  army  ready,  these  Roman  wars  were  finished.  Philip 
of  Macedonia,  who  was  still  Rome's  ally,  was  irritated  by 
this  delay. 

Antiochus  landed  in  Greece  with  a  small  army  (ten 
thousand  infantry  and  five  hundred  cavalry)  and  without 
money  (192  b.c).  The  summer  he  wasted  in  Thessaly,  the 
winter  in  celebrating  his  marriage. 

Rome  sent  out  a  small  army  which  regained  Thessaly. 
Antiochus  withdrew  to  Thermopylas  and  entrenched  himself 
there,  while  a  body  of  ^tolians  guarded  the  mountain-paths 
(the  same  through  which  the  Persians  had  once  surprised 
Leonidas).  The  guard  was  easily  taken  unawares  and  put 
to  rout,  and  the  royal  army  fled  almost  without  resistance 
(191  B.C.). 

Antiochus  abandoned  Greece  to  the  single-handed  resist- 
ance of  the  yEtolians  and  went  to  attack  Pergamum  in  Asia, 
the  capital  of  Eumenes,  who  was  an  ally  of  Rome.  The 
Roman  army  followed  him;  Lucius  Scipio,  the  general  in 
command,  had  brought  with  him  his  brother  Publius,  the 
hero  of  Zama.     The  army  passed  through  Macedonia,  then 


CONQUEST  OF   THE  MEDITERRANEAN  BASIN.      125 

Thrace.  Antiochus  had  fortified  the  peninsula  at  the 
entrance  to  Asia,  but  made  no  attempt  to  defend  it  and  sued 
for  peace.  He  found  the  Romans'  conditions  too  severe, 
however,  and  refused  them. 

The  Roman  army  advanced  into  Asia  Minor  as  far  as 
Magnesia  at  the  foot  of  Mount  Sipylus.  There  Antiochus 
offered  battle.  The  Romans  had  four  legions,  their  allies 
from  Macedonia,  Pergamum,  and  Achaia,  and  their  mer- 
cenaries from  Crete,  Illyria,  and  Thrace,  thirty  thousand 
men  in  all;  and  sixteen  elephants  from  Africa.  Antiochus 
is  said  to  have  had  seventy  thousand  men,  including  twelve 
thousand  horsemen  and  sixteen  thousand  hoplites  (heavy 
infantry)  arranged  in  a  phalanx,  after  the  Macedonian 
custom.  In  front  of  the  phalanx  he  placed  his  Asiatics,  his 
Galatian  and  Cappadocian  mercenaries,  his  chariots  fitted 
with  scythes,  and  his  Arabs,  armed  with  bow  and  sword  and 
mounted  on  camels;  on  the  wings,  his  elephants  and  his 
guard  with  their  silver  shields. 

Antiochus,  with  his  guard,  came  up  to  the  Roman  camp; 
there  he  was  stopped.  Meanwhile  the  Roman  allies  drove 
the  chariots  and  elephants  back  on  the  phalanx;  the  army 
of  Antiochus  was  panic-stricken  and  broke  up.  When  the 
king  saw  from  afar  the  rout  of  his  army,  he  fled.  His 
soldiers  took  refuge  in  their  camp,  but  were  driven  out  and 
massacred.  Antiochus  lost  fifty  thousand  men,  the  Romans 
three  hundred. 

Antiochus  sued  for  peace.  He  promised  to  surrender  all 
his  elephants  and  his  fleet,  to  pay  fifteen  thousand  talents 
within  twelve  years,  and  never  again  to  attack  the  Greek 
Islands  or  to  cross  the  Taurus.  He  gave  twenty  hostages 
and  promised  to  deliver  to  the  Romans  Hannibal,  Thoas, 
and  three  of  his  advisers  who  were  hostile  to  Rome 
(189  B.C.). 

Hannibal  heard  the  terms  in  time  to  escape  to  the  protec- 
tion of  the  king  of  Bithynia. 

Antioclius,  in  order  to  procure  the  money  promised  to  the 


126  THE  ROMAN  PEOPLE. 

Romans,  prepared  an  expedition  in  which  he  himself  was  killed 
It  was  said  that  his  subjects  stoned  him  to  death  for  stealing 
treasure  from  the  temples. 

Antiochus  was  the  last  powerful  king  in  Syria. 

War  with  Perseus. — Rome,  having  conquered  the  two 
greatest  kings  of  the  time,  was  now  the  most  powerful  state 
in  the  world,  and  the  senate  began  to  interfere  in  Eastern 
affairs. 

Prusias,  king  of  Bithynia,  made  war  on  the  king  of  Pcr- 
gamum;  with  the  assistance  of  Hannibal,  who  had  taken 
refuge  with  him,  he  was  victorious.  The  senate  ordered 
Prusias  to  deliver  Hannibal  to  Rome.  Flamininus  went  to 
find  him.  There  were  seven  secret  entrances  to  the  house 
in  which  Hannibal  was  living;  Flamininus  had  them  all 
guarded.  When  Hannibal  saw  that  he  could  not  escape,  he 
swallowed  a  poison  which  he  carried  always  with  him,  and 
cried,    "Let    us    deliver   the   Romans   from    their   terror" 

(183B.C.). 

The  Greeks  complained  that  Philip,  king  of  Macedonia, 
wanted  to  subjugate  them;  the  senate  sustained  their  com- 
plaint. Philip  was  vexed  and  labored  to  prepare  his  kingdom 
for  war.  He  reopened  his  gold-mines,  founded  a  new  city, 
Philippopolis,  and  made  alliance  with  a  savage  people,  the 
Bastarnae. 

After  the  death  of  Philip  in  179  b.c,  his  son  Perseus 
became  king  of  Macedonia.  He  was  a  man  of  fine  appear- 
ance, gallant,  affable,  generous,  and  beloved  by  his  people. 

He  devoted  himself  to  amassing  wealth,  collecting  arms 
and  ammunition  for  three  armies,  and  ten  years'  rations;  he 
equipped  forty- five  thousand  men.  He  made  numerous 
allies, — the  mountaineers  of  Epirus,  a  king  of  Illyria,  and  a 
king  of  Thrace;  in  Greece,  the  Boeotians;  in  Asia,  his 
brother-in-law,  Prusias,  king  of  Syria,  and  Seleucus,  his 
father-in-law.  Even  the  great  Greek  city  of  Rhodes,  the 
former  ally  of  Rome,  negotiated  with  him.  It  was  said  that 
Perseus  met  the  Asiatic  and  Carthaginian  envoys  in  the  island 


CONQUEST  OF   THE  MEDITERRANEAN  BASIN,      127 

of  Samothrace,  and  interviewed  them  secretly.  When  he 
felt  himself  strong  enough  he  led  his  army  into  Greece  to  the 
temple  of  Delphi. 

His  enemy,  Eumenes.  king  of  Pergamum,  went  to  Rome 
to  denounce  him.  The  senate,  as  a  sign  of  honor,  sent 
Eumenes  a  curule  chair  and  an  ivory  staff.  On  his  return 
to  Asia,  Eumenes  passed  near  Delphi;  on  the  mountain  road 
he  was  attacked  by  brigands,  who  were  concealed  behind  an 
old  house,  and  fell  in  a  swoon.  Perseus  was  accused  of 
having  caused  the  attack. 

The  Romans  declared  war  on  Perseus  in  171  b.c.  An 
army  was  easily  made  up,  for  there  was  no  lack  of  volunteers 
to  fight  in  a  country  reputed  so  rich,  where  booty  would  be 
abundant.  Nevertheless,  Perseus  made  a  successful  resist- 
ance for  two  years. 

The  Roman  army  landed  at  Apollonia,  crossed  the  moun- 
tains, and  invaded  Thessaly,  where  it  was  defeated.  Perseus, 
hoMevcr,  was  anxious  for  peace;  he  offered  to  restore  his 
conquests  and  even  to  pay  an  indemnity.  The  consul, 
however,  insisted  on  unconditional  surrender. 

His  successor  lo>t  his  whole  year  (170  b.c)  in  attempting 
to  force  a  passage  thrt)ugh  Macedonia;  his  lieutenant  was 
defeated  in  Iliyria. 

Rome  raised  a  new  army.  Marcius,  the  consul,  succeeded 
in  getting  it  through  the  gorges  and  forests  of  Mount 
Olympus,  with  the  cavalry,  baggage,  and  elephants  at  the 
head.  The  army  reached  Macedonia  and  went  into  winter 
quarters  (169  b.c). 

Battle  of  Pydna. — The  new  consul,  ^Emilius  Paulus, 
pitched  his  camp  directly  opposite  that  of  Perseus,  near 
Pydna;  and  here,  in  a  plain  between  the  mountains  and  the 
sea,  was  fought  the  decisive  battle. 

It  was  evening.  Perseus  had  just  offered  a  sacrifice  and 
no  one  was  expecting  a  battle.  The  men  of  the  advance 
guards  were  leading  their  horses  to  water  when  they  met  the 
Romans  and  began  to  fight.     Both  sides  sent  for  help.     The 


128  THE  ROMAN  PEOPLE, 

phalanx  presented  a  hedge  of  pikes,  which  the  Romans  tried 
to  cut  with  their  swords  or  seize  with  their  hands;  but  the 
phalanx  permitted  no  encroachment. 

Finally  in  advancing  the  phalanx  came  upon  uneven 
ground  and  broke  apart.  Then  the  Romans  hurled  them- 
selves by  platoons  into  the  vacant  spaces  and  attacked  the 
Macedonians  from  all  sides.  The  long  pikes  were  an 
encumbrance  to  the  Macedonians  and  their  small  shields  but 
a  poor  defence;  the  phalanx  once  broken,  they  could  expect 
only  slaughter.  They  lost  twenty  thousand  men  killed  and 
eleven  thousand  prisoners.  The  Romans  lost  only  one 
hundred  (169  B.C.). 

End  of  the  Kingdom  of  Macedonia. — Perseus  fled  with 
his  treasure,  but  his  subjects  no  longer  dared  to  defend  him. 
The  inhabitants  of  Amphipolis  implored  him  to  go  away,  so 
he  set  sail  with  his  treasure  for  the  island  of  Samothrace  and 
took  refuge  in  a  temple.  Hence  he  wrote  to  ^milius 
Paulus,  suing  for  peace;  in  the  letter  he  gave  himself  the 
title  of  king,  and  y^milius  Paulus  refused  to  receive  it. 
Perseus  wrote  a  second  letter  without  claiming  any  title,  and 
^milius  replied  that  he  must  surrender  unconditionally. 
The  Roman  fleet  surrounded  the  island,  but  religion  forbade 
seizing  Perseus  in  a  temple,  but  he  was  betrayed  and  gave 
himself  up. 

^milius  Paulus  summoned  to  Amphipolis  delegates  from 
all  the  Macedonian  cities,  and  read  to  them  the  decision  of 
the  senate.  There  was  no  longer  a  kingdom  of  Macedonia; 
the  country  was  divided  into  four  provinces,  between  which 
there  must  be  no  communication;  they  must  pay  to  Rome 
one  half  of  the  tax  they  were  in  the  habit  of  paying  to 
Perseus;  they  were  forbidden  to  bear  arms.  All  supporters 
of  Perseus,  governors  of  fortified  places,  and  captains,  were 
transported  to  Italy  with  their  families,  and  only  the  peasantry 
remained  in  Macedonia  (167  b.c). 

The  Roman  soldiers  were  discontented  because  they  had 
not  had  a  chance  to  pillage  the  country.     As  compensation, 


CONQUEST  OF   THE  MEDITERRANEAN  BASIN.       129 

iEmilius  Paulus  ordered  each  city  in  Epirus  to  gather 
together  all  its  gold  and  silver.  On  an  appointed  day  the 
soldiers  entered  all  the  cities  (said  to  be  seventy  in  number) 
at  once,  under  pretext  of  seeking  the  gold  and  silver,  and 
sacked  them.  The  inhabitants  (one  hundred  and  fifty 
thousand  in  number)  were  sold  as  slaves  and  the  price 
divided  among  the  soldiers. 

Triumph  of  -^milius  Paulus. — On  returning  to  Rome, 
iEmilius  Paulus  celebrated  the  most  brilliant  triumph  ever 
seen.  The  procession  occupied  three  days,  so  many  objects 
had  he  to  exhibit. 

The  first  day  was  taken  up  by  two  hundred  and  fifty 
chariots  laden  with  statuary  and  pictures.  The  second  day, 
chariots  laden  with  arms, — helmets,  shields,  cuirasses, 
quivers,  bits  and  bridles,  pikes  and  swords.  Behind  these 
came  seven  hundred  and  fifty  vases  filled  with  pieces  of 
silver,  each  borne  by  four  men;  drinking  vases,  cups,  and 
flagons.  The  third  day,  led  by  trumpeters  sounding  the 
charge,  marched  one  hundred  and  twenty  bullocks  adorned 
for  the  sacrifice  with  garlands  and  with  their  horns  gilded; 
following  them  came  young  men  richly  dressed  and  carrying 
vases  of  gold  and  silver,  then  seventy-seven  vases  filled  with 
gold  pieces,  a  whole  table-service  of  gold  plate  belonging  to 
Perseus,  and  a  great  golden  vase  (weighing  575  pounds) 
studded  with  precious  stones,  then  the  empty  chariot  of 
Perseus  with  his  arms  and  his  diadem.  Next  came  the  two 
sons  and  the  daughter  of  Perseus  with  their  tutors,  and 
Perseus,  robed  in  black  and  followed  by  his  courtiers,  all  in 
tears.  Then  came  four  hundred  golden  crowns  sent  to 
iEmilius  Paulus  by  the  Greek  cities  in  honor  of  his  victory. 

Finally,  on  the  triumphal  chariot,  ^milius  Paulus 
appeared,  wearing  a  robe  of  purple  embroidered  with  gold 
and  carrying  an  olive  branch  in  his  right  hand.  His  soldiers, 
arranged  in  companies,  followed  him  singing. 

In  this  manner  he  ascended  the  Capitol  and  offered  the 
usual  sacrifice  to  Jupiter.     He  filled  the  Roman  treasury  so 


13©  THE  ROMAN  PEOPLE. 

full  that  the  government  ceased  to  exact  the  tributum,  or  war 
tax,  from  Roman  citizens.  ^ 

Perseus  was  thrown  into  prison  and,  it  is  said,  perished 
from  hunger. 

Roman  Supremacy  in  the  East. — The  eastern  princes 
were  intimidated  by  the  fall  of  Perseus,  and  endeavored  to 
keep  peace  with  Rome. 

Prusias,  king  of  Bithynia,  came  to  Rome.  He  said  to  the 
envoys  from  the  senate:  "  You  see  before  you  one  of  those 
you  have  set  free,  ready  to  do  whatever  may  please  you." 
He  went  to  the  senate  chamber  with  shaved  head  and  a  free- 
man's cap,  and,  prostrating  himself  before  the  door,  kissed 
the  threshold,  and  cried:   "  Gods  of  salvation,  I  salute  you." 

Eumenes,  king  of  Pergamum,  also  came  to  Rome.  But 
the  senate  did  not  want  all  the  kings  coming  to  Italy;  a 
quaestor  intercepted  Eumenes  as  he  was  landing  at  Brun- 
dusium,  and  ordered  him  to  return  to  his  own  country. 

Antiochus  IV  ,  king  of  Syria,  determined  to  conquer  Egypt 
and  marched  on  Pelusium.  Popilius  La^nas  was  sent  by  the 
senate  to  stop  him. 

Popilius  came  to  the  king's  camp,  where  Antiochus 
greeted  him  and  offered  his  hand.  Popilius,  without  return- 
ing the  greeting,  handed  him  the  tablets  bearing  the  senate's 
message;  it  was  an  order  to  stop  the  war.  The  king  read  it 
and  replied  that  he  would  consider  it.  Popilius,  with  a 
small  stick  he  had  in  his  hand,  drew  a  circle  in  the  sand 
around  the  king  and  said:  '*  You  shall  not  pass  this  circle 
until  you  have  given  your  answer."  Antiochus  was  fright- 
ened and  said  he  would  obey  the  senate.  Then  Popilius 
took  his  hand  and  gave  him  greeting. 

Popilius  hurried  to  Alexandria  and  decided  who  should 
be  king  in  Egypt. 

In  iEtolia  the  leader  of  the  Roman  party  brought 
together  all  the  chief  partisans  of  Perseus  and  had  them 
massacred  by  the  Roman  soldiers. 

[1  This  tax  was  not  exacted  again  until  the  year  43  B.C.] 


CONQUEST  OF  THE  MEDITERRANEAN  BASIN.      13^ 

Rhodes  had  driven  out  all  supporters  of  Perseus;  but  the 
senate,  being  displeased  with  Rhodes,  gave  her  envoys  an 
ungracious  reception  and  threatened  war.  Cato  spoke  in 
their  behalf  and  calmed  the  senate,  so  that  it  was  content 
with  depriving  Rhodes  of  her. Asiatic  possessions. 

The  Achaeans  had  supported  Rome  and  sent  their  soldiers 
against  Perseus.  The  leader  of  the  Roman  party,  however, 
pointed  out  one  thousand  of  the  chief  citizens  as  hostile  to 
Rome,  and  the  senate  transported  them  to  Italy;  among 
them  was  Polybius,  the  historian,  who  became  the  friend  of 
Scipio.  These  men  were  kept  in  Italy  for  almost  twenty 
years.  At  length  Scipio  begged  the  senate  to  release  them, 
and  a  lively  discussion  followed.  Cato  decided  the  affair 
by  saying:  '*  Have  we  then  nothing  better  to  do  than  to 
dispute  as  to  whether  a  lot  of  decrepit  Greeks  shall  be  buried 
by  our  grave-diggers  or  by  their  own  ?  "  They  were  allowed 
to  return  to  their  native  land,  but  of  the  thousand  only  three 
hundred  were  left. 

Destruction  of  Carthage. — Carthage  had  ceased  to  be  a 
great  power  but  remained  a  rich  city,  and  the  Romans  con- 
tinued to  hate  her.  Massinissa,  the  Numidian  king  and 
Roman  ally,  was  a  neighbor  to  Carthage;  he  attacked  her 
several  times,  and  each  time  Carthage  asked  permission  of 
Rome  to  make  war  on  him.  Each  time  Rome  refused  and 
obliged  Carthage  to  grant  what  was  demanded. 

On  one  of  these  occasions  Cato,  sent  to  Carthage  by  the 
senate,  was  impressed  by  the  richness  of  the  country  and  was 
filled  with  envy.  On  his  return  he  showed  some  enormous 
figs  he  had  brought  from  Africa,  and  said:  '*  See  these  figs. 
The  land  that  produced  these  is  only  three  days'  journey 
from  Rome."  From  this  time,  whenever  his  opinion  was 
asked  on  any  question  whatever,  he  invariably  concluded  his 
answer  with  these  words:  "And  besides  this,  it  is  my 
opinion  that  Carthage  must  be  destroyed." 

Those  Carthaginians  who  wanted  war  with  Rome  finally 
formed  a  party.     This  party  came  into  power,  drove  out  the 


132 


THE  ROMAN  PEOPLE. 


partisans  of  Massinissa,  and  began  to  negotiate  with  the 
enemies  of  Rome  in  Macedonia  and  Greece.  The  Cartha- 
ginians were  alarmed,  exiled  the  war  party  and  sent  an 
apology  to  Rome.  The  senate  answered  the  envoys  with 
these  words:  "Give  us  satisfaction." — "What  satisfaction 
do  you  ask?" — "Of  that  you  are  well  aware,"  was  the 
reply. 

a 


A  Roman  army  (eighty  thousand  men)  landed  in  Africa; 
the  city  of  Utica  made  alliance  with  Rome.  The  Caitha- 
ginians  had  not  the  strength  for  defence  and  sent  word  to 
the  consuls  that  they  would  surrender  at  discretion.  The 
consuls  promised  to  leave  them  their  liberty  and  their  laws, 
and  ordered  them  to  send  three  hundred  hostages  to  Sicily. 
Then  they  ordered  that  all  arms  should  be  given  up ;  Carthage 
sent  her  ships,  two  hundred  thousand  stands  of  arms,  and 
three  thousand  engines  of  war.  The  Carthaginians  being 
now  completely  disarmed,  the  consuls  made  known  their 
last  condition:  the  Carthaginians  must  leave  their  city  and 


CONQUEST  OF   THE  MEDlTERP[AhlEAN  BASIN.       I33 

go  back  ten  miles  into  the  country,  which  meant  living  like 
peasants  away  from  the  sea  and  resigning  commerce,  the 
source  of  their  wealth. 

When  the  Carthaginians  realized  how  they  had  been 
duped,  they  were  infuriated  and  massacred  all  the  partisans 
of  Rome,  closed  the  city  gates  and  began  to  manufacture 
arms  in  great  haste;  the  temples  were  converted  into  work- 
shops. 

They  had  not,  it  is  said,  enough  rope  for  the  engines  of  war, 
so  the  Carthaginian  women  sacrificed  their  hair. 

The  Roman  army  made  an  attack  and  was  driven  back. 

The  Third  Punic  War  (149  b.c). — Thus  began  the  last 
struggle  of  the  doomed  city.  Carthage  occupied  a  tongue 
of  land  lying  between  the  sea  and  the  Lake  of  Tunis,  joined 
to  the  continent  by  a  narrow  isthmus.  On  the  shore  toward 
the  sea  was  the  citadel  (Byrsa),  built  on  the  hills,  and  sur- 
rounded by  a  thick  wall  which  rendered  it  an  independent 
stronghold.  A  second  wall  surrounded  the  city,  which  was 
built  on  a  tongue  of  land  and  blocked  the  entrance  to  the 
isthmus;  there  was,  however,  a  space  between  the  foot  of 
this  wall  and  the  Lake  of  Tunis.  On  this  space  the  Roman 
army  encamped,  and  enlarged  it  by  filling  up  the  edge  of  the 
lake,  which  is  shallow.  They  then  constructed  two  towers 
which  were  mounted  on  wheels  and  so  enormous  that  it 
required  six  thousand  men  to  push  one  of  them ;  with  these 
the  Romans  battered  down  a  part  of  the  wall.  The  besieged 
army  came  out,  however,  and  destroyed  the  machines;  they 
also  repulsed  an  attack  by  the  Romans.  The  latter,  camped 
on  the  shore  of  the  sea  and  the  lake,  fell  ill.  The  consuls 
gave  up  the  siege,  and  tried  to  conquer  the  surrounding 
country.      They  were  driven  back  by  the  two  cities. 

A  new  consul,  Scipio,  the  adopted  grandson  of  the  man 
who  conquered  Hannibal,  came  to  take  command  of  the 
army.  He  found  it  disorganized,  drove  out  the  merchants 
who  infested  the  camp,  restored  discipline,  compelled  his 
soldiers  to  drill,  and  then  renewed  the  siege  (147  b.c). 


134  THE  ROMAN  PEOPLE. 

He  attacked  the  city  on  the  side  towards  the  isthmus, 
entered  by  night  through  a  gate  opened  to  him  by  a  traitor, 
and  established  himself  in  the  suburb  of  Megara.  Then  he 
evacuated  the  city,  burned  his  camp,  and  cut  the  isthmus 
by  a  ditch  and  two  walls,  so  as  to  isolate  Carthage  by  land. 
The  Carthaginian  general,  Hasdrubal,  had  entered  Carthage 
with  his  army;  against  the  wish  of  the  senate  he  immediately 
took  charge  and  had  the  Roman  prisoners  massacred. 

Carthage  was  still  receiving  her  provisions  by  sea.  Scipio, 
wishing  to  starve  her  into  submission,  tried  to  cut  off  her 
communication  by  water.  Carthage  had  two  harbors,  one 
behind  the  other;  the  outer  harbor  was  for  commerce  and 
opened  toward  the  southeast;  the  inner  harbor  was  for  time 
of  war,  and  was  smaller  and  more  sheltered,  with  a  little 
round  island  in  the  middle  and  accommodations  for  two 
hundred  and  twenty  ships.  Scipio  had  a  stone  pier  built 
across  the  entrance  to  the  harbor.  But  by  the  time  he  had 
finished  closing  up  the  harbor,  the  Carthaginians  had  dug  a 
canal  across  the  tongue  of  land  and  sent  their  ships  out 
through  it  on  the  north  shore. 

Scipio  kept  up  the  siege  until  winter,  hoping  to  gain  pos- 
session of  the  quay.  In  the  spring  of  146  b.c.  the  Cartha- 
ginians were  suffering  from  hunger;  they  were  reduced  to 
eating  the  bodies  of  the  dead,  and  many  of  them  surrendered. 
The  Romans  finally  assaulted  the  city  and  succeeded  in 
reaching  the  market-place.  In  the  steep  and  narrow  streets 
which  led  to  the  citadel  they  fought  for  six  days  and  six 
nights,  until  Scipio  set  fire  to  that  quarter  of  the  city.  On 
the  seventh  day  the  besieged  surrendered.  Scipio  promised 
to  spare  their  lives  and  sold  them  into  slavery. 

Hasdrubal  had  taken  refuge  in  a  temple  with  a  thousand 
Roman  deserters  who  could  hope  for  no  mercy.  Hasdrubal 
gave  himself  up,  but  the  deserters  set  fire  to  the  temple  and 
all  perished.  Scipio  spared  Hasdrubal  and  a  number  of 
notables  to  march  in  his  triumphal  procession. 

We   are   told   that   Hasdrubal's   wife   was   indignant  at  his 


CON'QUEST  OF  THE  MEDITERRANEAN  BASIN.      135 

cowardice.  She  led  her  children  up  to  the  burning  temple  and 
cried  to  him  :  "  Go  then  and  adorn  the  triumph  of  the  con- 
queror !  "  Then  she  killed  her  two  children  and  threw  herself 
into  the  fire. 

The  fire  lasted  seventeen  days.  Then  the  senate  gave 
orders  to  destroy  Carthage.  The  walls  and  buildings  were 
torn  down,  and  the  ground  ploughed  up,  and  a  priest  pro- 
nounced a  curse  on  whosoever  should  occupy  the  soil 
(146  B.C.). 

Rome  retained  the  territory  that  had  belonged  to  Carthage 
and  made  of  it  the  province  of  Africa. 

Conquest  of  Macedonia  and  Greece. — A  certain  Andriscus 
appeared  in  Macedonia  with  a  small  Thracian  army,  and 
declared  himself  to  be  Philip,  son  of  Perseus,  escaped  from 
the  Romans.  He  roused  the  Macedonians  to  his  support, 
and  a  war  ensued  which  lasted  two  years.  One  Roman  army 
was  defeated,  but  the  second  overcame  Andriscus  and  took 
him  prisoner  (148  b.c).  The  senate  kept  Macedonia  and 
made  it  a  Roman  province  (146  b.c). 

In  Greece  the  Achaean  general  excited  the  democratic 
party  of  Corinth  against  Rome  and  gathered  a  small  army. 
The  Roman  governor  of  Macedonia  put  it  to  rout.  The 
Corinthians  tried  to  defend  the  isthmus.  The  consul 
Mummius  scattered  them  and,  entering  Corinth  without 
resistance,  sold  the  inhabitants  into  slavery,  sacked  the  city, 
and  destroyed  it  (146  b.c). 

Corinth,  the  richest  city  in  Greece,  was  filled  with  statuary 
and  pictures;  her  vases  of  carved  metal  were  said  to  be  the 
most  beautiful  in  the  world.  All  these  works  of  art  were 
sent  to  Rome. 

It  was  said  that  the  rough  and  ignorant  Roman  soldiers 
used  as  gambling-boards  the  pictures  of  the  famous  artist, 
Apelles,  without  suspecting  their  value. 

It  was  also  said  that  Mummius,  the  consul,  when  handing 
over  these  masterpieces  to  the  people  who  were  to  take  them 
to  Rome,  bade  them  be  very  careful,  adding  that  should  any 
harm  come  to  them,  they  would  be  obliged  to  replace  them. 

The  governor  of  Macedonia  was  henceforth  charged  with 


13^  THE  ROMAN  PEOPLE. 

supervision  of  the  Greeks.  In  all  the  Greek  cities  Rome 
gave  the  government  offices  to  the  rich,  who  favored  Roman 
rule. 

Wars  against  the  Ligurians. — The  mountains  about  the 
Gulf  of  Genoa  were  inhabited  by  the  Ligurians,  a  race  of 
poor  shepherds  and  warriors.  Assisted  by  their  neighbors, 
the  Cisalpine  Gauls,  they  resisted  Rome  for  half"  a  century. 
More  than  one  Roman  army  had  great  difficulty  in  escaping 
from  a  surrounding  band  of  Ligurians.  Several  times  Rome 
sent  against  them  both  consuls  with  four  legions.  To  make 
an  end  of  the  trouble,  Rome  transported  forty  thousand 
Ligurians  into  Samnium,  gave  them  land  and  made  them 
settle  there. 

The  Romans  were  not  fond  of  the  open  sea.  The  ships 
which  bore  their  troops  to  Spain,  instead  of  cutting  across 
the  Mediterranean,  followed  the  coast  along  past  Liguria 
and  Gaul ;  otherwise  the  troops  went  all  the  way  by  land. 
Often  the  Ligurians  attacked  them  on  their  way  and  pillaged 
their  baggage.  The  Romans  therefore  felt  the  necessity  of 
controlling  the  road  along  the  coast.  They  began  by  driving 
the  Ligurians  back  into  the  mountains.  Then,  little  by 
little,  they  conquered  their  country  back  to  the  Alps. 

Spanish  Wars. — In  Spain  the  Romans  had  at  first  assured 
the  people  that  they  came  only  to  deliver  them  from  the 
Carthaginians;  Scipio  had  given  them  hostages  who  were 
kept  as  prisoners  in  Carthagena,  and  had  concluded  treaties 
of  alliance  (210  b.c). 

When  the  war  was  over  Rome  left  in  Spain  two  governors, 
each  with  an  army,  one  in  the  northeast,  the  other  in  the 
southwest;  they  occupied  the  coast  of  the  plain  of  Guadiana 
(Baetica),  which  was  inhabited  by  peaceful  people.  The 
interior  remained  independent,  divided  among  small  moun- 
tain peoples,  the  Iberians.  The  women  worked  and  tilled 
the  soil,  while  the  men  went  to  war;  they  were  brave,  sober, 
and  very  proud;  those  who  were  captured  killed  themselves 
rather  than  become  slaves. 


CONQUEST  OF   THE  MEDITERRANEAN  BASIN.      I37 

The  Roman  governors,  who  were  appointed  for  only  one 
year,  tried  to  employ  that  year  in  making  some  expedition 
that  would  either  bring  them  great  booty  or  give  them  a 
chance  to  ask  for  a  triumphal  procession.  Often,  without 
any  other  motive,  they  attacked  one  of  the  Roman  allies  and 
Rome  found  herself  involved  in  a  war.  It  was  not  easy  to 
find  soldiers  for  these  wars,  for  the  Italians  were  unwilling 
to  fight  in  this  mountain  country,  where  campaigning  was 
full  of  privations  and  hardships  and  booty  rare,  the  generals 
usually  keeping  the  money  and  slaves  for  themselves. 

These  Spanish  wars  lasted  for  more  than  seventy  years. 
In  the  early  years  the  Romans  were  on  the  point  of  being 
driven  out  and  they  lost  a  number  of  armies. 

Their  most  stubborn  enemies  were  the  Celtiberians,  a  race 
combining  Iberians  and  Celts  (Gauls),  settled  on  the  plateau 
above  the  cliffs  which  descended  into  the  Mediterranean. 
They  fought  chiefly  on  foot  with  a  heavy,  two-edged  sword, 
arranging  themselves  in  the  form  of  a  wedge.  It  was  im- 
possible to  tell  where  to  expect  them,  as  they  had  no  towns. 

In  179  B.C.  Sempronius  restored  peace  by  inspiring  con- 
fidence in  the  Celtiberians;  they  made  terms  with  him, 
promising  to  recognize  the  supremacy  of  the  Roman  people; 
this  meant  that  they  should  not  make  war  on  Rome,  that 
they  should  furnish  warriors  to  serve  as  auxiliaries  and  even 
pay  a  contribution.  Rome,  on  her  part,  promised  to  defend 
them  and  to  let  them  govern  themselves. 

The  successors  of  Sempronius  violated  this  treaty,  and  the 
Celtiberians  made  a  complaint.  The  senate  ordered  an 
investigation,  and  two  of  the  magistrates  disappeared  into 
exile. 

At  last,  in  154  b.c,  a  number  of  tribes  revolted  at  once. 
The  war,  which  lasted  twenty  years,  began  in  the  northeast. 
The  Arevaci,  one  of  the  Celtiberian  peoples,  were  building 
a  wall,  when  the  consul  ordered  them  to  stop;  they  refused, 
and  he  attacked  them.  A  neighboring  people  came  to  their 
assistance;    the  consul  was  taken  by  surprise  and  lost  six 


138  THE  ROMAN  PEOPLE. 

thousand  men.  Three  Roman  armies  were  defeated  one 
after  the  other.  No  one  would  enlist  in  the  Roman  army, 
not  even  as  an  officer. 

Viriathus. — At  the  Same  time  the  Lusitanians,  in  the 
mountains  of  the  northwest  (the  Portugal  of  to-day),  revolted, 
massacred  two  Roman  armies,  and  sent  their  standards  to  the 
Celtiberians.  After  two  years  of  war,  a  Roman  general 
named  Galba  offered  to  give  them  lands;  they  accepted  the 
offer.  Galba  divided  them  into  three  bodies,  and  persuaded 
them  to  lay  down  their  arms;  he  then  surrounded  and 
massacred  them  (150  b.c). 

Viriathus,  a  mountaineer  who  escaped  slaughter,  became 
chief,  and  won  fame  by  his  victories.  He  was,  it  is  said,  a 
shepherd,  accustomed  to  mountain-climbing,  daring,  an 
agile  horseman,  and  born  to  command.  For  six  years  he 
defeated  the  Romans. 

One  day  he,  with  his  horsemen,  saved  a  Lusitanian  army, 
trapped  the  Roman  army  in  a  mountain-pass  and  massacred 
both  soldiers  and  general.  He  also  destroyed  an  army  sent 
by  the  Spanish  allies  of  Rome. 

After  two  more  victories  he  set  up  on  a  mountain,  as  a 
trophy,  the  mantles  of  the  Roman  generals  and  the  fasces  of 
their  lictors.  Rome  sent  a  consul  against  him  with  two 
legions.  Viriathus  again  carried  the  day  (143  b.c). 
Another  time  he  surprised  an  army  with  elephants,  killed 
three  thousand  men,  and  besieged  the  rest  in  the  Roman 
camp  (142  B.C.). 

He  worked  his  way  into  a  besieged  fortress,  from  which 
he  made  a  sortie,  drove  the  Roman  soldiers  back  among  the 
rocks,  seized  them  and  then,  after  signing  a  treaty  with  the 
general,  released  them.  This  treaty  declared  the  Lusitanians 
independent  and  Viriathus  the  friend  of  the  Roman  people 
(141  B.C.). 

The  Romans  immediately  resumed  the  war,  this  time 
calling  on  the  friends  of  Viriathus  to  assassinate  him. 
Viriathus  was  on  his  guard,  sleeping  little  and  always  armed; 


COLONIES 

ANJ> 
MItlTAKY  ROADS 

OF 

ITALY 

o  Roman  Colony  •  Latin  Colony 

©    Other  OUiea  — ^-.  liUitiary  Roads 

The  numbers  are  the  dates 
B.C.  of  founding. 


\T 

Greenwich     1,6 


CONQUEST  OF  THE  MEDITERRANEAN  BASIN.       139 

but  some  friends  came  under  pretext  of  negotiating  with  him 
and  stabbed  him  in  his  tent. 

The  Lusitanians  were  conquered,  driven  into  the  moun- 
tains, and  disarmed  (139  b.c). 

Numantian  War. — In  the  north  of  Spain  war  broke  out 
again  after  ten  years  of  peace.  The  Arevaci,  a  small  Celti- 
berian  tribe,  for  ten  years  held  all  the  Roman  armies  in 
check.  They  had  but  one  small  city,  Numantia,  protected 
only  by  a  moat,  a  palisade,  and  an  army  of  a  few  thousand 
men.  They  asked  for  nothing  but  peace;  they  even  offered 
an  indemnity  and  hostages.  The  Roman  general,  Metellus, 
demanded  the  surrender  of  their  arms,  and  this  they  refused 
(141  B.C.). 

The  Roman  soldiers  were  suffering  not  only  from  cold 
but  from  hunger,  for  they  had  laid  waste  the  surrounding 
country,  and  the  enemy  captured  all  their  convoys  of  provi- 
sions. A  new  general,  Pompeius,  offered  to  make  peace. 
The  Numantians  retuined  their  prisoners,  and  also  all 
Roman  deserters  and  hostages;  they  were  assured  possession 
of  their  arms  (140  b.c). 

A  third  general,  the  consul  Popilius,  declared  the  treaty 
void,    attacked    the    Numantians    and    was    defeated    (139 

B.C.). 

A  new  general,  Mancinus,  was  even  more  unfortunate. 
His  soldiers,  believing  that  two  neighboring  peoples  were 
coming  to  aid  Numantia,  took  fright,  escaped  from  their 
camp,  and  took  refuge  in  an  old  abandoned  camp.  Here 
the  enemy  surrounded  them  and  they  surrendered.  The 
Numantians  let  them  go,  but  made  Mancinus  and  his  officers 
swear  to  accept  a  treaty  recognizing  the  independence  of 
Numantia  (137  b.c).  The  senate  refused  to  accept  the 
treaty  and  voted  to  deliver  Mancinus  to  the  Numantians. 
Mancinus,  naked  and  manacled,  was  accordingly  led  to 
Numantia;  the  Numantians  refused  to  accept  him,  and  the 
,next  day  he  returned  to  the  Roman  camp. 

Rome   finally  sent  against    Numantia  her  most   famous 


I40  THE  ROMAN  PEOPLE, 

general,  Scipio,^  the  destroyer  of  Carthage.  He  began  by 
reorganizing  the  Roman  army.  He  drove  out  the  camp- 
followers,  merchants,  and  soothsayers  who  encumbered  the 
camp;  he  took  away  the  soldiers'  pack-animals,  chariots, 
beds,  all  their  furniture,  leaving  each  only  a  copper  vessel, 
a  spit,  and  a  drinking-horn,  and  making  them  sleep  on  the 
ground  as  he  did.  He  made  them  work;  dig  ditches  and 
fill  them  up  again,  build  walls  and  tear  them  down  again, 
and  make  long  marches  on  foot,  carrying  their  arms  and 
baggage. 

In  this  way  he  spent  a  whole  summer.  Then  he  took  his 
position  before  Numantia,  in  two  camps.  He  had  an  army 
of  sixty  thousand  men,  but  he  did  not  want  to  risk  a  battle; 
he  preferred  to  starve  the  enemy  into  submission. 

Numantia  was  situated  on  a  cliff  overlooking  the  Douro, 
which  at  this  point  had  not  yet  reached  its  full  breadth. 
Provisions  and  news  were  brought  to  the -besieged  city  by 
"divers.  Scipio  blocked  the  river  with  booms  armed  with 
blades  of  swords  and  points  of  lances.  On  the  land  side  he 
built  a  thick  wall,  enforced  by  a  double  ditch.  Then  he 
waited. 

One  dark  night  messengers  succeeded  in  leaving  Numantia 
to  seek  aid  from  the  neighboring  tribes.  The  young  men  of 
one  city  prepared  to  answer  the  appeal,  but  Scipio  suddenly 
appeared  with  his  soldiers,  seized  four  hundred  of  their 
notables,  and  cut  off  their  hands. 

The  Numantians,  entrapped  and  starving,  asked  for  a 
battle;  Scipio  refused.  They  were  reduced  to  eating  the 
bodies  of  the  dead.  At  length,  rather  than  surrender,  they 
killed  one  another,  so  that  Scipio  found  only  fifty  to  adorn 
his  triumphal  procession.  Without  waiting  for  orders,  he 
razed  the  city,  leaving  no  trace  to  show  where  it  had  stood 
(133  B.C.). 

This  was  the  last  war  of  subjugation  in  Spain. 

^  He  had  been  surnamed  the  African  (Scipio  Africanus  Minor),  as  his 
adopted  grandfather  had,  been  called  Africanus. 


CONQUEST  OF   THE  MEDITERR/iNEAN  BASIN.      141 

Conquest  in  Gaul. — The  Greek  city  of  Massilia  (Mar- 
seilles), which  had  long  been  the  ally  of  Rome,  had  to 
defend  her  coast  colonies  against  the  Alpine  mountaineers. 
It  became  necessary  for  the  Romans,  on  their  way  to  Spain, 
to  control  the  road  along  the  coast.  Rome  and  Massilia 
formed  an  alliance. 

The  Romans  aided  Massilia  in  her  wars,  defeated  the 
peoples  who  occupied  the  neighboring  shores  (154-122  B.C.), 
and  forbade  them  to  come  within  fifteen  hundred  paces  of  a 
harbor  or  within  one  thousand  paces  of  the  shore.  In  the 
conquered  territory  they  founded  a  colony,  Aquae  Sextiae 
(Aix),  the  most  ancient  Roman  city  in  Gaul  (122  b.c). 


DYING    GAUL    (CAl'ITOL). 

A  chief  belonging  to  the  conquered  tribes  took  refuge  with 
the  Allobroges,  an  important  Gallic  people  inhabiting  the 
Alps  (the  modern  DaupHine).  The  Roman  consul  tried  to 
make  them  give  him  up,  but  they  refused.  The  consul 
attacked  them  near  the  Rhone  and  killed  twenty  thousand 
of  them  (121  B.C.).  The  Allobroges  called  on  their  allies, 
the  Arverni,  who  inhabited  the  Cevennes  (the  modern 
Auvergne). 

The  king  of  the  Arvemi,  Bituitus,  descended  to  the  Rhone 
with  his  army.      He  gave  battle  to  the  Romans  near  the 


142  THE  ROMAN  PEOPLE, 

junction  of  the  Isere  and    the    Rhone.      His  soldiers  were 

either  slain  or  drowned  in  the  river;  he  himself  escaped,  but 

was   captured    as   a    traitor   and    led    to    Rome   in    chains 

(120  B.C.). 

This  Bituitus  was  said  to  be  of  gigantic  stature;  he  fought  on 
a  silver  chariot,  surrounded  by  a  pack  of  ferocious  dogs,  and 
leading  an  army  of  one  hunared  and  twenty  thousand  men. 
When  he  saw  the  small  size  of  the  Roman  army,  he  cried  : 
"  There  are  only  enough  there  to  make  a  meal  for  my  dogs." 

The  senate  now  made  the  country  of  the  Allobroges  a 
province,  reaching  from  Lake  Leman  to  the  sea.  Later  it 
was  extended  across  the  Rhone  to  the  Pyrenees;  and  on  this 
side  the  Romans  founded  another  colony,  Narbonensis 
(118  B.C.).  Thus  was  established  the  province  of  Gallia 
Narbonensis,  the  modern  Provence. 

*  The  Slave  Revolt  in  Sicily. — While  Rome  was  thus 
cementing  her  power  in  the  west,  there  had  arisen  a  grave 
danger  nearer  home.  The  land  swarmed  with  slaves, 
y^milius  Paulus  had  taken  captive  and  sold  one  hundred  and 
fifty  thousand  of  them.  Fifty  thousand  Carthaginians  had 
been  similarly  treated.  The  condition  and  treatment  of  such 
slaves  is  described  in  Chapter  XIL 

At  last  two  hundred  thousand  of  them  in  Sicily  revolted, 
and  under  a  leader  named  Eunus  were  able  to  withstand  the 
armies  of  Rome  for  three  years.  The  rebellion  was  finally 
quelled  in  132  b.c.  Thousands  of  slaves  were  crucified, 
much  to  the  disgust  of  their  masters,  who  objected  to  the  loss 
of  so  much  valuable  property. 

*  The  Province  of  Asia. — Meantime  there  had  been 
another  and  peaceful  acquisition  of  territory.  The  last  king 
of  Pergamum,  in  the  northwest  of  Asia  Minor,  left  his  king- 
dom by  will  to  the  Roman  people.  There  was  but  slight 
resistance  to  the  transfer,  and  the  country  was  organized  as 
the  province  of  Asia.  This  province,  of  small  extent,  must 
be  carefully  distinguished  from  Asia  as  a  geographic  division  ^ 
(B.C.  133). 

^  «*  Asia"  as  used  in  the  New  Testament,  Acts  xvi.  6;  xix.  10,  22.  26, 
refers  to  this  province. 


CONQUEST  OF   THE  MEDITERRANEAN  BASIN,       I43 

SOURCES. 

Appian Foreign  Wars,  Bks.  x-xil,  c.  i. 

Florus Bk.  ii,  cc.  viii-xx. 

Livy Bks.  xxxi-XLV,  Eptl.  xlvi-lvi,  lix-lxi, 

LXIX. 

Plutarch ^milius  Pauliis,  Caio,  Flamininus,  Philo- 

poemon. 
Polybius Bks.    ii,    xvi,   xviii,   xx,    xxv,    xxvii- 

XXXIII,  XXXV-XXXlX,/i25J/W. 

Paterculus Bk.  i,  cc.  ix-xiii ;  Bk.  ii,  c.  i. 

PARALLEL  READING. 

Duruy. ...    cc.  xxvi-xxxiii. 

Ihne * Bk.  iv,  cc.  vi,  vii ;  Bk.  v,  cc.  i-viii. 

Mommsen Bk.  1 1 1,  cc.  vii-x. 

Botsford c.  V,  pp.  1 16-128. 

How  and  Leigh cc.  xxiii-xx\di. 

Morey cc.  xvi,  xvii.^ 

Myers cc.  x,  xi. 

Pelham Bk.  111,  c.  ii. 

Shuckburgh cc.  xxvii-xxxiv. 

Mahaffy,  J .  P The  Geeek  World  under  Roman  Sway,  c.  lio 

Freeman,  E.  A History  of  Federal  Government,  cc.  v-ix. 


CHAPTER   XI. 
THE   RESULTS   OF   CONQUEST. 

NEW    MANNERS    AND    CUSTOMS. 

Hellenism  at  Rome. — Up  to  the  third  century  before 
Christ,  the  Romans  were  a  race  of  peasants,  merchants,  and 
soldiers.  All,  even  the  we^lhy,  were  occupied  simply  with 
farming,  commerce,  or  war.  They  read  almost  nothing, 
and  knew  neither  literature,  science,  art,  nor  philosophy. 

After  conquering  the  eastern  countries  inhabited  by  the 
Greeks,  their  life  underwent  a  great  change.  Thousands  of 
Greeks,  brought  as  slaves  or  who  had  come  to  seek  their 
fortune, — physicians,  actors,  professors,  soothsayers, — settled 
at  Rome  and  mingled  with  the  Romans.  Thousands  of 
Roman  soldiers  and  merchants  lived  for  years  in  the  East 
among  strangers. 

In  this  way  the  Romans  became  acquainted  vith  new 
customs  and  ideas  and  gradually  gave  up  their  old  ways  to 
adopt  those  of  the  Greeks.  This  we  call  the  introduction 
into  Rome  of  Hellenism  (imitation  of  the  Hellenes). 

TRANSFORMATION    IN    MODE    OF    LIVING. 

Dwellings. — The  old  Roman  house  was  low,  having  but 
one  story,  and  consisted  of  a  single  building  between  the 
street  and  the  court  behind;  the  foundations  were  built  of 
stone,  the  walls  of  unbaked  brick  with  a  coating  of  clay  and 
straw.  Inside,  the  rooms  were  divided  by  partitions  of  laths, 
and  paved  with  pebbles,  clay,  and  bits  of  pottery. 

144 


THE  RESULTS  OF  CONQUEST.  145 

There  were  two  doors,  one  opening  on  the  street,  the 
other  on  the  court.  The  great  door,  that  on  the  street,  led 
into  a  vestibule,  thence  into  the  atriuvi^  or  main  hall;  in  the 
middle  of  the  atrium,  between  four  wooden  pillars,  was  the 
compiuviuvi,  a  square  opening  framed  in  the  ceiling  to  let  in 
the  light,  with  a  basin  to  catch  the  rain. 

All  around  the  atrium  were  built  little  rooms,  whitewashed 
and  unfurnished.  In  one  corner  stood  the  hearth,  sacred  to 
X\iQ  penates,  the  hr  (house-god),  and  the  conjugal  bed. 

The  family  spent  most  of  their  time  in  the  atrium ;  the 
master  of  the  house  had  his  armchair  there,  the  mistress  her 
loom,  and  the  household  cupboard  and  chest.  Here  the 
Roman  family  ate  its  meals  and  received  its  guests. 

The  second  century  before  Christ  saw  the  hearth  relegated 
to  a  special  room.  The  nobles  and  the  rich  merchants  even 
began  to  build  Greek  houses,  with  a  dining-hall,  library, 
bath-room,  and  apartments  reserved  for  the  women.  They 
had  more  elegant  furniture,  bronze  beds,  silver  dishes,  and 
carpets  (see  on  page  350  the  description  of  a  Greek 
house). 

Dress. — The  ancient  Romans  wore  ordinarily  but  one 
garment,  the  tunic,  which  was  of  wool,  sewed  together,  and 
without  fastenings.  The  men's  tunic,  held  in  place  by  a 
girdle  about  the  hips,  reached  to  the  knee;  the  women's 
tunic,  fastened  about  the  breast,  fell  to  the  ground. 

On  ceremonious  occasions  a  Roman  wore  over  his  tunic 
a  toga,  a  long  garment  of  white  wool,  draped  about  the  body 
and  reaching  to  the  ground.  In  the  country,  men  worked 
without  a  tunic,  wearing  simply  a  linen  girdle  with  an  apron 
reaching  to  the  knees.  The  Roman  also  wore  a  felt  hat, 
leather  sandals,  and  an  iron  ring  on  his  left  hand. 

After  the  conquest,  the  Romans  gradually  adopted  a  more 
complicated  dress;  they  imported  finer  materials,  of  linen, 
cotton,  and  wool,  from  the  Greeks  and  Orientals,  and  had 
their  garments  richly  trimmed.  The  women  began  to  wear 
the  Greek  robe,  the  Greek  girdle,    the  Greek  mantle,   the 


146 


THE  ROMAN  PEOPLE. 


wide-sleeved  tunic,  the  fillet,  and  the  Greek  hood;  the  men 

borrowed  the  boots  and 
the  shoes. 

Food. — The  ancient  Ro- 
mans ate  but  little  and 
always  coarse  food.  They 
had  but  one  real  meal, 
which  they  ate  at  midday 
[coena),  consisting  of  por~ 
ridge  (after  the  fifth  cen- 
tury, bread)  and  either 
fresh  or  pickled  fruit.  They 
ate  sitting  down,  either 
with  a  spoon  or  with  their 
fingers,  the  food  spread  on 
a  bare  wooden  table.  For 
company  a  plate  of  meat 
was  added,  or  perhaps  fish, 
eggs,  beans,  or  onions,  and 
a  sort  of  dessert  made  of 
fruits  and  pastry;  also  a 
jug  of  spiced  wine  or  must 
and  water  to  drink.  The 
women  never  drank  wine. 
Meat  was  rarely  eaten  ex- 
cept after  a  sacrifice  on 
feast-days. 

In  the  morning,  whether 
at  home  or  at  work,  the 
Roman  breakfast  (jentacu- 
lum)  consisted  of  bread  and 
cheese.  The  evening  meal 
was  unleavened  bread,  with 
nuts,  fruit,  and  a  little 
wine. 


FEMALE    DRESS. 


After   the   conquest,  the  Romans,   at  least   the  wealthy. 


THE  RESULTS  OF  CONQUEST.  147 

adopted  a  more  varied  and  choice  diet.  They  began  to  eat 
two  meals,  prandium,  at  about  eleven  o'clock  in  the  morning, 
carta  in  the  afternoon,  and  to  make  these  meals  more 
elaborate.  They  had  meat  at  every  one,  fresh  fish,  oysters, 
and  game;  also  rich  wines,  either  Falernian  from  Campania 
or  of  Greek  importation.  They  adopted  another  Greek 
custom,  that  of  spending  the  evening — often  the  night — 
drinking  at  their  friends'  houses. 

Women  and  children  continued  to  sit  while  eating.  But 
for  the  men,  in  wealthy  houses,  there  were  couches,  after  the 
Greek  fashion ;  on  each  bed  lay  three  guests,  who,  when  they 
raised  themselves  to  eat,  rested  their  elbows  on  a  square 
table  placed  before  them.  The  couches  occupied  three  sides 
of  the  table,  the  fourth  side  being  left  for  the  service. 

Sometimes  guests  were  crowned  with  a  wreath  of  leaves, 
as  in  Greece,  while  musicians  and  dancers  were  provided  for 
their  entertainment. 

Occupations. — The  ancient  Roman  led  a  very  monotonous 
existence.  He  rose  very  early,  in  winter  before  drawn. 
After  washing,  he  made  his  prayer  to  the  god  of  the  morn- 
ing (Maiutinus),  then  went  to  his  work  and  worked  all  day 
except  for  the  noo.i  meal  hour.  The  men  spent  the  day  in 
the  fields;  the  women  stayed  in  the  house,  weaving  the 
woolen  thread  which  their  servants  spun. 

The  country  people  went  to  the  city  only  for  the  market, 
which  was  held  every  nine  days.  They  took  their  grain, 
fruits,  and  cattle  to  sell,  and  bought  little  but  articles  of 
metal  or  clay  and  pottery.  Every  farmer  manufactured  his 
own  flour,  bread,  farming  implements,  wagons,  baskets, 
rope,  and  even  his  house;  the  women  wove  cloth  and  made 
the  clothing. 

Amusements  were  very  rare;  two  or  three  great  games 
were  held  every  year  at  Rome, — that  is  to  say,  a  procession 
followed  by  a  horse-  or  chariot-race;  no  dancing,  except  once 
or  twice  a  year,  in  honor  of  a  divinity;  no  pleasure-trips,  for 
they  had  no  vehicles  but  farm- wagons.     All  travelling  was 


148  THE  ROMAN  PEOPLE. 

done  either  on  foot  (or,  in  case  of  sickness,  in  a  litter)  over 
narrow,  rough  streets,  paved  with  small  stones;  or,  by  water, 
on  extremely  slow  barges. 

After  the  conquest  of  the  east  life  became  more  varied,  at 
least  for  the  rich.  They  moved  from  the  country  into  the 
city,  and  indulged  in  the  Greek  forms  of  entertainment : 
banquets,  shows,  games,  and  even  travelling.  It  became 
the  custom  to  go  to  the  seacoast  during  the  hot  season, 
especially  to  Baiae,  on  the  Bay  of  Naples. 

TRANSFORMATION    OF    RELIGION. 

Greek  Religion. — The  Romans  had  from  early  times 
learned  to  follow  many  of  the  beliefs  and  rites  of  the  Greeks 
in  Italy  (see  page  43).  They  worshipped  several  of  the 
Greek  divinities,  Apollo,  Hercules,  Castor  and  Pollux, 
Proserpina,  and  ^sculapius. 

This  is  how  the  worship  of  ^Esculapius  was  introduced: 
Rome  was  suffering  from  a  plague.  The  Sibylline  books  were 
consulted,  and  said  that,  in  order  to  put  an  end  to  the  pestilence, 
the  god  ^sculapius  must  be  brought  to  Rome  from  the  sanc- 
tuary of  Epidaurus  in  Greece. 

The  senate  sent  ten  envoys  in  a  galley.  Arriving  at  Epidau- 
rus they  asked  permission  of  the  inhabitants  to  take  away  their 
god;  the  council  of  the  city  in  repjly  said  "they  would  be  per- 
mitted to  receive  whatever  the  god  should  grant  them."  The 
envoys  accordingly  went  and  prayed  in  the  temple  of  .^scu- 
lapius.  A  huge  serpent  issued  from  the  temple,  passed  through 
the  city  streets  and,  swimming  to  the  galley,  took  possession  of 
the  cabin  occupied  by  the  envoys.  The  Romans,  recognizing 
in  this  serpent  the  god  they  had  come  to  find,  set  sail  with  him 
for  Rome. 

On  the  return  voyage  the  ship  was  overtaken  by  a  storm, 
and  took  refuge  in  the  harbor  of  Antium.  The  serpent  swam 
ashore  to  the  temple  of  Apollo  (Apollo  was  the  father  of 
^sculapius),  and  remained  there  three  days,  his  body  wound 
about  a  palm-tree  in  the  court ;  when  the  storm  was  over  he 
returned  to  the  ship.  The  ship  passed  up  the  Tiber  to  Rome  ; 
there  the  serpent  plunged  into  the  river  and  established  him- 
self on  a  small  island.  On  this  island  was  built  the  temple  of 
iEsculapius. 

After  the  conquest,  the  Romans  finally  merged  their  own 


THE  RESULTS  OF  CONQUEST. 


149 


gods  with  the  Greek  gods.  In  each  of  the  Roman  gods  they 
seemed  to  recognize  a  Greek  god;  they  gave  him  the  figure 
of  this  Greek  god  and  credited  him  with  the  same  history. 
This  confusion  was  easy,  because  the  Roman  gods  had  had 
no  history  and  no  exact  form. 


iX^i 


Jupiter  was  confounded  with  Zeus,  Juno  with  Hera, 
Minerva  with  Pallas  Athene,  Diana  with  Artemis,  Vulcan 
with  Hephaestus,  Mercury  with  Hermes,  Liber  with  Bacchus, 
Mars  with  Ares,  Ceres  with  Demeter,  Venus  with  Aphrodite. 
Thus  the  Latin  'gods  were  transformed  into  Greek  gods,  and 
it  became  the  custom  to  designate  the  Greek  gods  by  the 
Latin  names;  we  still  call  Zeus  Jupiter,  Hera  Juno,  and 
soon. 


150  THE  ROMAN  PEOPLE. 

Eastern  Religions. — The  Romans  also  began  to  practise 
some  of  the  Eastern  forms  of  religion.  As  early  as  220  b.c, 
worshippers  of  the  Egyptian  god  Serapis  had  a  sanctuary  in 
Rome.  The  senate  ordered  it  to  be  torn  down,  but  not  a 
workman  dared  touch  it;  the  consul  himself  at  length  struck 
the  first  blows  of  the  axe  on  the  door. 

In  204,  towards  the  end  of  the  second  Punic  war,  the 
senate,  in  obedience  to  an  oracle,  sent  an  embassy  into  Asia 
Minor  in  search  of  the  Great  Mother,  the  goddess  of 
Pessinus,  called  by  the  Greeks  Cybele,  and  represented  by  a 
black  stone.  The  envoys  brought  her  back  with  great  cere- 
mony and  installed  her  in  a  temple  at  Rome.  Her  priests 
established  themselves  there,  retaining  their  Oriental  costume 
and  their  custom  of  marching  through  the  streets  with  fifes 
and  cymbals. 

Later  the  senate  adopted  a  Cappadocian  goddess  and 
built  her  a  temple.  She  was  worshipped  under  the  name  of 
an  ancient  Latin  goddess,  Bellona.  Her  devotees,  however, 
preserved  the  custom,  totally  foreign  to  the  Romans,  of 
celebrating  her  festivals  by  mangling  the  face  and  body  with 
a  knife. 

Many  Chaldaean  sorcerers  and  soothsayers  came  to  Rome 
and  practised  the  art  of  reading  the  future.  In  140  b.c  the 
Chaldaean  astrologers  were  expelled,  but  they  invariably 
came  back. 

Weakness  of  Roman  Beliefs. — Educated  Greeks  had 
ceased  to  believe  in  their  old  religion.  Euhemerus,  a  Greek, 
had  written  a  book  declaring  that  the  gods  were  simply  men 
who  were  worshipped  after  death ;  he  pretended  to  have  seer 
an  inscription  which  told  the  history  of  Zeus,  the  most 
powerful  of  the  gods.  Zeus,  he  said,  was  simply  an  ancient 
king  of  Crete.  The  book  was  a  great  success,  and  was 
translated  into  Latin  by  the  poet  Ennius. 

The  prominent  men  at  Rome  learned  from  associating 
wifli  Greeks  to  scoff  at  the  old  religion.  They  continued  to 
practise   its   rites,    but    repudiated    its   beliefs.      Even   the 


THE  RESULTS  OF  CONQUEST.  151 

Pontifex  Maximus,  Aurelius  Cotta,  said:  "It  is  not  easy  to 
deny  the  gods  in  public,  but  it  may  be  done  in  private." 
Later  Lucretius  wrote  his  famous  poem  on  Nature  to  free 
men  from  the  fear  of  the  gods  and  to  "  deliver  the  soul  from 
the  bonds  of  superstition." 

INTELLECTUAL    TRANSFORMATION. 

Literature  and  the  Theatre. — The  ancient  Romans  had 
neither  books  nor  theatres.  Some  of  the  leading  Romans 
who  had  fought  in  Greece  became  acquainted  with  Greek 
philosophy  and  letters,  and  acquired  intellectual  tastes. 
They  began  to  speak  Greek,  at  that  time  the  language  of  all 
educated  people.  The  first  history  of  Rome  was  written  in 
Greek  by  a  Roman  nobleman,  Fabius  Pictor.  The  perfect 
knowledge  of  Greek  displayed  by  Flamininus  in  the  war 
against  Macedonia  astounded  the  Greeks,  who  had  expected 
to  see  ignorant  barbarians.  It  soon  became  the  fashion  to 
speak  Greek  even  in  Rome.  The  Scipios  sui rounded  them- 
selves with  philosophers,  ^milius  Paulus  set  the  fashion 
of  having  a  library  of  Greek  books  in  the  house.  (He  had 
taken  his  from  King  Perseus.) 

It  was  during  this  period  that  Livius  Andronicus,  a  freed- 
man  of  Greek  origin,  began  to  translate  Greek  works, 
especially  plays,  into  Latin.  His  example  was  quickly  fol- 
lowed by  others,  and  thus  were  laid  the  foundations  of  Latin 
literature.  Greek  plays  were  given  in  Latin  in  the  public 
shows  at  Rome  on  feast-days.  Two  of  these  translators  were 
Plautus  and  Terence. 

The  Romans  were  still  too  uncultivated  to  find  much 
enjoyment  in  so  refined  a  pleasure.  When  Hecyra,  one  of 
Terence's  comedies,  was  produced,  the  spectators  would  not 
wait  for  the  end,  so  eager  were  they  to  see  the  wild  beasts  in 
the  circus.  Little  by  little,  however,  the  people  grew  accus- 
tomed to  literary  spectacles.  *     ^' 

The  audience  had  been  obliged  to  stand,  but  the  censors 


152 


THE  ROMAN  PEOPLE. 


built  a  stone  theatre  with  graded  seats.  The  senators 
ordered  it  torn  down,  to  show,  they  said,  **  that  the  Romans 
had  enough  energy  to  stand  even  through  their  entertain- 
ments. " 


A    ROMAN    PLAY. 


Arts. — In  accordance  with  the  Roman  custom,  the 
Roman  generals  brought  back  what  they  found  of  most  value 
in  vanquished  Greece, — statues,  pictures,  and  bronzes.  The 
first  of  these  treasures  were  brought  to  Rome  by  Marcellus 
after  the  taking  of  Syracuse. 

The  Roman  nobles,  seeing  the  value  the  Greeks  set  on 
these  masterpieces,  began  to  prize  them,  either  through 
honest  admiration  or  through  vanity.  They  wanted  to 
appear  connoisseurs,  and  it  became  the  fashion  to  collect 
pictures,  statues,  or  Corinthian  bronzes.  Rome  was  soon 
filled  with  works  of  art.  The  Roman  also  adopted  the 
fashion  of  having  his  house  decorated  with  paintings,  or  a 
statue  or  bust  of  himself,  dressed  in  the  costume  of  a 
divinity,  after  the  Greek  fashion.  It  was  also  the  custom 
to  have  Greek  musicians  perform  during  festivals,  ceremonies, 
and  banquets. 

The  Romans  did  not  quickly  become  painters,  sculptors, 
or  even   architects;    the  artists  at  work  in  Italy  were   all 


THE  RESULTS  OF  CONQUEST.  I53 

Greeks.  After  a  long  time  Roman  artists  arose,  especially 
in  the  field  of  architecture. 

Education. — The  Roman  boys  of  antiquity  were  taught 
physical  exercise,  outdoor  work,  cultivation  of  the  land,  and 
religious  ceremonies;  the  sons  of  great  families  learned,  in 
addition,  their  letters  and  figures.  All  that  a  girl  needed  to 
know  was  sewing  and  spinning. 

But  after  the  conquest  this  education  seemed  very  insuffi- 
cient. A  number  of  Greeks  opened  schools  in  Rome  and 
taught  the  children  to  read,  write  on  tablets,  and  calculate 
according  to  the  abacus,  the  Greek  form  of  reckoning ;  later 
came  grammar  and  music.  The  rich  gave  their  children 
Greek  slaves  for  tutors. 

Teachers  of  philosophy  and  rhetoric  also  came  to  Rome 
to  instruct  the  young  men.  This  troubled  the  senate,  and 
the  philosophers  and  Latin  rhetoricians  were  driven  out. 
Later  on  a  censor  forbade  the  teaching  of  Latin  rhetoric  in 
Rome.  However,  it  soon  became  the  fashion,  especially  in 
noble  families,  to  send  young  men  to  study  in  the  great 
Greek  schools  at  Rhodes  and  Athens.  Greek  philosophy 
and  rhetoric  were  thus  introduced  among  the  educated 
classes. 

The  Romans  retained  a  prejudice  against  music  and 
dancing,  which  they  regarded  as  fitted  only  for  comedians, 
and  not  for  sons  of  noble  families.  Scipio  ^milianus,  who 
nevertheless  loved  the  Greeks,  said  of  a  dancing  school : 
"  When  it  was  told  me  I  could  not  believe  that  nobles  would 
have  such  things  taught  their  children."  Sallust  said  later 
of  a  Roman  lady:  "She  plays  the  lyre  and  dances  better 
than  becomes  an  honest  woman." 

MORAL    TRANSFORMATION. 

Ancient  Customs. — The  ancient  Roman  modelled  his 
whole  conduct  on  one  principle:  to  act  according  to  the 
custom  of  his  ancestors,  to  do  as  his  fathers  did  before  him. 


154  THE  ROMAN  PEOPLE. 

His  life  was  spent  in  working,  fighting,  and  economizing, 
— a  hard,  sad,  monotonous  life.  The  qualities  he  most 
admired  were  sobriety,  economy,  and  a  dignified  bearing 
(gravitas).  His  ideal  was  a  severe  general  and  a  solemn 
magistrate  leading  the  life  of  a  peasant.  The  following  is 
an  admiring  description  of  the  ancients  written  many  years 
later : 

Curius  Dentatus,  after  defeating  the  Samnites,  received  their 
envoys  at  his  small  estate  in  the  Sabine  country,  seated  on  a 
wooden  bench  and  eating  boiled  turnips  from  a  wooden  bowl. 
They  offered  him  gold,  but  he  refused  it,  saying,  "  I  would 
rather  command  those  who  have  gold  than  have  it  myself." 

Fabricius,  w^ho  conquered  Pyrrhus,  had  no  dishes  but  a  silver 
salt-cellar  and  a  cup.  When  the  Epirote  envoy  offered  him 
money  he  passed  his  hands  over  his  body  from  his  eyes  to  his 
waist  and  said,  "While  this  remains  to  me  I  need  no  other 
wealth."  When  he  died  he  left  his  daughters  so  poor  that  the 
senate  had  to  provide  them  with  a  dowry. 

Growth  of  Luxury. — After  the  conquest  the  Romans 
began  to  find  the  "customs  of  their  ancestors"  painfully 
dull,  and  they  longed  for  a  life  more  rich  and  varied. 

This  was  the  beginning  of  luxury.  The  generals  brought 
back  to  Rome  a  part  of  the  gold,  silver,  jewels,  and  other 
treasures  from  the  Greek  countries.  The  Orientals  were  in 
the  habit  of  living  like  kings,  in  the  midst  of  costly  furniture, 
golden  vessels,  precious  stones,  and  numberless  servants. 
The  Romans  brought  home  with  them  similar  tastes. 

It  was  natural  that  the  Romans,  suddenly  enriched  by  the 
conquest  of  the  richest  countries  of  the  time,  should  yield 
to  the  temptation  of  luxurious  indulgence.  They  began  to 
display  their  wealth  in  rich  clothing,  embroidered  carpets, 
silver  plate,  and  costly  banquets.  Those  whose  office 
obliged  them  to  give  public  feasts  added  at  their  own  expense 
shows  of  very  harmful  character. 

The  Romans  had  already  adopted  the  Etruscan  custom  of 
gladiatorial  contests,  and  later  the  Greek  custom  of  acting 
comedies.  For  the  public  entertainment,  wild  beasts  were 
brought  from  foreign  lands  and  let  loose  in  the  circus,  where 


THE  RESULTS  OF  CONQUEST, 


155 


trained  hunters    were  employed    to    kill    them.  This   was 

called   a   hunt  and  was  first  introduced  in    186  B.C.,    with 

lions   and    panthers   for   game.       In     108    b.c.  sixty-three 
panthers  were  killed  in  a  single  hunt. 


ANIMAL   FIGHT   IN   THB  CIRCUS.      (BAUMKISTEK.) 


Change  in  Condition  of  Women. — The  Roman  women  of 
antiquity,  even  the  rich,  spent  all  their  time  within  doors, 
busy  with  their  servants.  The  most  flattering  thing  that 
could  be  said  of  a  woman  was  summed  up  in  this  famous 
epitaph:  "  She  stayed  at  home  and  wove  her  wool."  The 
husband  had  complete  power  over  his  wife;  he  could  judge 
her  and  even  condemn  her  to  death.  He  also  had  the  right 
to  repudiate  her,  but  this  right  was  not  supported  by  custom. 

After  the  conquest  the  Roman  women  changed  all  this. 
They  came  out  of  their  houses,  and  used  chariots;  they  went 


156  THE  ROMAN  PEOPLE. 

to  the  circus  and  the  theatre,  and  began  to  dine  in  public. 
They  began  to  practise  foreign  religions,  especially  the 
mysteries  of  Isis,  the  goddess  of  Egypt,  or  the  ceremonies  of 
Cybele.  They  remained  ignorant  and  idle,  but  they  became 
more  free.  A  new  form  of  marriage  was  instituted,  whereby 
a  woman  was  no  longer  made  subject  to  the  absolute  control 
of  her  husband.  She  was  also  given  the  right  to  leave  her 
husband.  A  marriage  might  be  dissolved  on  complaint  of 
either  husband  or  wife.  Divorce  became  more  and  more 
frequent,  at  least  among  the  rich.  In  the  first  century  mar- 
riage came  to  be  regarded  a  merely  temporary  union:  Sylla 
had  five  wives,  Pompey  five,  Caesar  four;  Hortensius  divorced 
his  m\{^  to  marry  her  to  one  of  his  friends. 

Cato  the  Censor. — One  man  named  Cato  made  himself 
famous  by  trying  to  compel  the  Romans  to  preserve  the 
ancestral  customs. 

Cato  was  born  about  2^,2  b.c,  at  Tusculum,  a  small  town 
in  Latium;  his  family  were  peasant  proprietors,  and  he  had 
begun  life  as  a  farmer.  According  to  custom  he  became  a 
soldier  at  the  age  of  seventeen  and  fought  against  Hannibal. 
He  was  a  red-haired  man,  and  blue-eyed,  strong,  brave,  and 
eloquent.  In  the  army  he  won  esteem  by  his  courage  and 
his  austerity.  He  went  alv/ays  on  foot,  carrying  his  arms, 
and  drank  no  wine.  In  battle  he  stood  firm  at  his  post, 
striking  vigorous  blows  and  shouting,  inspiring  the  enemy 
with  terror. 

When  at  home  he  lived  as  a  peasant;  he  worked  in  the 
field,  in  winter  wearing  only  a  tunic,  in  summer  without  any 
outer  garment,  and  ate  with  his  slaves.  Being  something  of 
an  orator,  he  undertook  to  plead  his  neighbor's  cases  at 
Rome. 

Valerius,  a  man  of  influence  living  near  Cato's  farm, 
became  interested  in  him,  and  persuaded  him  to  settle  in 
Rome,  where  he  helped  him  to  become  known. 

Cato  was  elected  tribune  of  fhe  soldiers;  then  he  was  made 
quaestor  and  sent  as  paymaster  with  Scipio  to  Africa.     He 


THE   RESULTS   OF  CONQUEST,  157 

found  that  his  general  was  giving  too  much  money  to  the 
soldiers,  and  showed  him  how  he  was  encouraging  them  in 
expenses  which  were  contrary  to  ancient  customs.  Scipio 
told  him  that  **  he  had  no  need  of  so  scrupulous  a  quaestor. " 
Cato  did  not  forget  this  rebuff,  and  on  their  return  to  Rome 
reported  Scipio's  extravagance  and  accused  him  of  wasting 
money  and  losing  time  in  frivolity. 

Cato  was  elected  praetor  and  sent  as  governor  to  Sardinia. 
It  was  customary  for  the  governor  to  ask  what  he  pleased  of 
the  inhabitants;  wherever  he  went  he  was  accompanied  by  a 
great  troop  of  friends  and  servants,  who  must  all  be  liberally 
provided  for.  Cato  asked  for  none  of  these  things ;  he  made 
his  journeys  on  foot,  followed  by  one  servant  carrying  his 
toga  and  his  sacrificial  utensils. 

He  was  elected  consul.  A  proposal  was  made  in  the 
assembly  to  repeal  the  law  forbidding  women  to  wear  jewels 
or  to  ride  in  carriages.  The  Roman  ladies  came  themselves 
to  urge  their  friends  to  vote  for  the  repeal.  Cato  insisted 
that  the  law  should  be  retained,  and  made  a  famous  speech 
against  the  women.  **  All  other  men,"  he  said,  '*  rule  their 
wives;  we  Romans  can  rule  men,  but  our  wives  rule  us." 
The  law  was  repealed,  however,  in  spite  of  him. 

Cato  went  to  command  the  army  in  Spain.  He  captured 
and  demolished  four  hundred  fortresses.  He  divided  the 
booty  among  his  soldiers  and  kept  none  for  himself.  He 
even  sold  his  horse  before  coming  home  in  order  to  save  the 
government  the  cost  of  transportation. 

He  was  not  fond  of  the  Greeks.  **  When  this  race  shall 
have  invaded  us  through  its  literature,"  he  said,  "Rome 
will  be  lost."  He  was  familiar  with  Greek,  but  throughout 
his  expedition  into  Greece  he  refused  to  speak  anything  but 
Latin. 

The  Athenians,  having  an  affair  of  importance  to  settle  in 
Rome  (155  B.C.),  planned*  to  send  as  envoys  the  heads  of 
three  of  the  leading  schools  of  philosophy.  While  awaiting 
the  decision  of  the  senate,  Cameades,  the  head  of  the  School 


153  THE  ROMAN  PEOPLE. 

of  Plato  (the  Academy)  and  the  most  famous  of  these  men, 
gave  a  series  of  public  lectures,  which  were  crowded  by 
young  Romans.  His  subject  was  justice  and  injustice;  he 
said,  if  the  Roman  people  had  never  been  guilty  of  injustice, 
they  would  not  have  become  masters  of  the  world.  Cato 
said  to  the  senate:  *'  We  must  decide  the  matter  at  once  and 
get  rid  of  these  smooth-tongued  men  who  can  make  us 
believe  anything  they  will.  Let  them  go  and  teach  the 
Greek  children.  We  will  teach  ours  respect  for  the  laws  and 
the  magistrates."  The  senate  decided  to  dismiss  the  Greek 
orators. 

On  his  return  from  Spain,  Cato  had  been  authorized  to 
celebrate  a  triumph.  This  was  the  greatest  honor  that  could 
be  granted  to  a  Roman,  and  usually  a  general  who  had  been 
so  honored  would  not  consent  to  serve  under  the  orders  of 
another.  Cato,  however,  took  a  subordinate  command  in 
the  army  sent  against  Antiochus. 

Ten  years  after  his  election  as  consul,  Cato  was  chosen 
censor,  against  the  will  of  the  nobles;  the  people  desired 
him  because  of  his  severity.*  His  censorship  was  famous, 
and  won  him  the  surname  of  "  the  Censor."  He  struck  a 
number  of  names  from  the  list  of  senators  as  a  punishment 
for  luxury;  he  even  degraded  Lucius,  brother  of  the  great 
Scipio,  and  himself  the  conqueror  of  Antiochus.  He 
assessed  at  ten  times  their  value  women's  ornaments,  gar- 
ments, and  carriages.  He  toie  down  all  houses  jutting  out 
over  the  street,  and  cut  the  conduits  bringing  water  from  the 
public  fountains  into  private  houses.  He  farmed  out  the 
taxes  at  the  highest  possible  price.  The  people  showed  their 
gratitude  to  Cato  by  erecting  in  his  honor  a  statue  with  this 
inscription:  "  For  having  during  his  censorship  strengthened 
the  Roman  Republic,  which  the  change  in  customs  and 
manners  was  hurrying  to  its  ruin,"  He  made  many 
enemies,  especially  among  the  nobles,  whom  he  accused  of 
appropriating  the  public  money  and  setting  the  example  of 


THE  RESULTS  OF  CONQUEST.  I59 

luxury.  He  was  himself  impeached  (forty-four  times,  it  is 
said)  before  the  people,  but  was  always  acquitted. 

Cato  was  devoted  to  his  wife  and  son ;  he  made  a  point  of 
being  with  his  wife  when  she  washed  and  dressed  the  child. 
He  undertook  to  educate  the  boy  himself,  teaching  him 
grammar  and  law  as  well  as  riding,  fighting,  and  swimming. 
He  wrote  for  him  an  account  of  the  exploits  of  the  ancient 
Romans  and  a  treatise  on  agriculture.  He  considered  the 
acquisition  of  wealth  a  duty.  "  A  widow,"  he  said,  *'  may 
decrease  her  fortune,  but  a  man  must  increase  his."  He 
bought  only  low-priced  slaves,  and  sold  them  when  they 
were  growing  old,  that  he  might  not  have  to  care  for  them. 
"  It  is  a  good  plan,"  he  said,  "  to  sell  old  cattle,  old  junk, 
and  old  slaves.  A  good  housekeeper  is  a  seller,  not  a 
buyer."  In  his  old  age  he  found  that  agriculture  was  not  a 
satisfactory  investment  and  began  to  put  his  money  into 
merchant- vessels. 

Cato  was  the  type  of  the  ancient  Roman,  a  good  farmer, 
a  good  soldier,  hard  toward  himself  and  toward  others  alike, 
honest  and  avaricious. 

PARALLEL    READING. 

Duruy cc.  xxxv,  xxxvii. 

Ihne Bk.  vi,  cc.  xii-xv. 

Mommsen Bk.  ill.  cc.  xii-xiv. 

Botsford c.  vi,  pp   143- 1 50. 

How  and  Leigh cc.  xxviii,  xxx. 

Morey .    .  cc.  xviii,  pp.  148-152. 

Pelham Bk.  in,  c.  iii,  pp.  192-198. 

Shuckburgh c.  xxvi. 

Guhl  and  Koner. . . .  T/ie  Life  of  the  Greeks  and  Romans. 

Taylor Constitutional  and  Political  History    of 

Rome,  cc.  vii,  viii. 

Crutwell,  C.  T History  of  Roman  Literature,  c.  i. 


CHAPTER   XII. 
SOCIAL   AND    POLITICAL   TRANSFORMATION. 

The  Nobility.  —  There  was  no  longer  any  difference 
between  patrician  and  plebeian,  but  all  Roman  citizens  were 
not  equal.      Roman  society  remained  aristocratic. 

At  the  head  were  the  nobles.  To  be  a  noble  a  man  must 
be  descended  from  a  magistrate,  at  the  least.  The  magistracy 
at  Rome  was  not  merely  a  power,  it  was  an  honor.  When 
his  term  of  office  expired  the  magistrate  laid  aside  his  power, 
but  the  honor  he  preserved  and  handed  down  to  his 
descendants. 

Every  magistrate,  a^dile,  praetor,  or  consul  had  a  purple- 
bordered  toga  [prcBtexta),  an  ivory  chair  (curule  chair),  and 
the  right  to  have  his  image  made.  These  images  were 
statues  of  wax,  later  of  silver,  invested  with  the  emblems  of 
magistracy.  The  image  was  placed  in  a  niche  near  the 
hearth  and  the  household  gods,  like  an  idol.  When  a 
member  of  a  family  died,  the  images  of  the  dead  man  and  of 
his  ancestors,  if  noble,  mounted  on  a  chariot,  led  the  funeral 
procession.  The  procession  marched  through  the  city  to  the 
public  square  and  there,  before  the  assembled  multitude,  a 
relative  of  the  departed  pronounced  his  eulogy,  and  reviewed 
the  exploits  and  honors  of  the  whole  family.  An  image  in 
the  family  was  a  badge  of  nobility,  and  the  rank  of  a  family 
increased  in  proportion  to  the  number  of  its  images.  The 
common  phrase  was,  "  noble  by  one  image,"  "  noble  by  so 
many  images." 


SOCIAL   AND  POLITICAL    TRANSFORMATION.        i6i 

Ordinarily  the  people  chose  their  magistrates  from  among 
the  nobility,  so  that  the  images  accumulated  in  the  same 
families.  There  were  not  three  hundred  noble  families  in 
Rome,  but  they  alone  formed  the  senate  and  exercised  all 
the  powers.      In  the  theatre  the  nobles  took  first  place. 

The  Equestrian  Order. — The  second  class  was  called  the 
equestrian  order,  or  class  of  knights. 

To  serve  as  a  horseman  in  the  Roman  army  had  always 
been  a  privilege  reserved  for  the  wealthy;  the  horsemen 
formed  a  class  by  themselves.  After  the  second  century 
Roman  citizens  were  no  longer  to  be  found  in  the  cavalry 
(the  horsemen  being  all  Italian  allies  or  foreigners),  but  the 
term  knight  {eques)  continued  to  be  applied  to  all  those 
whose  fortune  exceeded  the  limit  formerly  set  for  admission 
to  the  mounted  service;  this  was  400,000  serterces  ($20,000). 

The  ancient  Romans  had  had  but  little  money  and  few 
ways  of  making  it.  The  conquest  opened  to  them,  in  the 
second  century  before  Christ,  the  opportunity  of  rapidly  ac- 
quiring fortunes. 

Silver  and  gold  taken  from  the  conquered  countries  were 
brought  to  Rome  either  for  the  public  treasury  or  for  the 
nobles.  Money  became  very  plentiful  in  Rome,  and  could 
be  borrowed  at  four  or  five  per  cent;  in  the  conquered 
countries  it  was  scarce  and  could  not  be  borrowed  under 
twelve  per  cent.  It  became  a  lucrative  business  to  borrow 
money  in  Rome  and  lend  it  among  the  Greeks  in  the  East, 
especially  to  the  kings  and  the  municipalities.  There  were 
money-changers  in  Rome  who  had  stalls  in  the  public 
squares;  they  became  bankers  and  grew  rich  by  speculation. 

In  the  conquered  countries  the  Romans  reserved  the  con- 
trol of  the  silver-mines,  the  customs  duties,  the  ports,  and 
the  public  lands  (see  page  179).  But  they  had  no  authorized 
agents.  They  farmed  out  the  collection  of  the  public 
revenues  to  men  known  as  publicans.  The  rights  in  each 
sort  of  business  in  each  country  were  sold  to  a  syndicate  of 
wealthy  citizens,  also  the  right  to  work  the  mines,  to  collect 


1 62  THE  ROMAN  PEOPLE, 

the  customs  in  the  ports,  to  levy  taxes  in  a  province.  The 
publicans  made  enormous  profits. 

Commerce  also  had  become  a  profitable  business,  com- 
merce by  sea  in  particular.  Ships  were  fitted  out  and  sent 
in  search  of  cargoes  of  grain,  lumber,  or  slaves  to  bring  to 
Italy. 

Senators  were  forbidden  by  law  to  take  part  in  tax-farm- 
ing, banking,  or  commerce.  The  knights  were  the  men  of 
business;  they  had  no  part  in  the  government,  but  they 
accumulated  large  fortunes.  In  the  theatre  fourteen  rows 
of  seats  behind  the  senators  were  reserved  for  them. 

When  a  knight  was  elected  to  a  magistracy  he  ceased  to 
be  a  knight,  and  became  a  senator.  The  nobles  called  him 
a  "  new  man  "  and  his  son  was  noble  (by  a  single  image). 

Plebs. — The  plebs  included  all  those  citizens  who  were 
neither  nobles  nor  knights.  There  was  still  in  Latium  and 
in  the  Sabine  country  a  peasant  class,  descended  from  the 
Latins  and  Sabines  who  had  been  early  conquered  by  Rome 
and  admitted  to  her  citizenship.  The  number  of  peasants 
was,  however,  steadily  decreasing  (see  page  178). 

On  the  other  hand,  Rome  as  she  developed  into  a  great 
city,  had  been  filled  by  a  new  population,  the  urban  plebs. 
These  were  descendants  of  the  peasants  who  had  left  the 
country  and  settled  in  the  city.  Others  were  descendants 
of  foreigners,  who,  brought  to  Rome  as  slaves,  had  been 
freed  by  their  masters  and  become  citizens. 

These  people,  for  the  most  part,  lived  in  great  poverty, 
having  no  means  of  making  a  living.  The  lucrative  positions 
belonged  to  the  knights,  and  the  lower  ranks  were  filled  by 
slaves  and  foreigners. 

These  wretches  were  nevertheless  a  privileged  class,  for 
they  were  Roman  citizens.  They  had  the  right  to  protection 
by  Roman  law,  to  contract  a  marriage  giving  absolute  con- 
trol of  wife  and  children,  and  to  acquire  property.  After 
454  B.C.  they  could  not  be  beaten  with  rods  or  condemned 
to  death  without  appeal   by  any  magistrate.     They  could 


SOCIAL  AND  POLITICAL   TRANSFORMATION,         163 

enlist  ih  the  legions,  vote  in  the  assembly  of  the  people,  and 
take  part  in  festivals  and  public  shows.  The  sign  of  their 
privilege  was  the  toga,  the  robe  of  white  wool  which  only 
citizens  could  wear. 

Slaves. — Before  the  conquest  every  Roman  worked  in  his 
own  field;  great  landowners  had  their  farms  cultivated  by 
clients  rather  than  by  slaves. 

As  Rome  subjugated  new  peoples,  slaves  became  more 
numerous.  All  persons  taken  in  war,  not  only  the  prisoners 
of  war,  but  the  inhabitants  of  captured  cities,  men,  women, 
and  children,  belonged  to  the  conqueror;  this  was  the  custom 
among  the  ancients,  and  the  Romans  enforced  it  rigorously. 
The  captives  were  a  part  of  the  booty  and  were  sold  to 
slave-dealers.  These  merchants  also  dealt  in  stolen  children 
and  men  taken  by  pirates  or  even  brigands. 

The  slaves  were  almost  all  foreigners, — Greeks  and 
Orientals,  or  western  barbarians,  Gauls,  Iberians,  and 
Sardinians.  Rome  had  a  market  for  slaves  as  well  as  for 
cattle.  The  slaves  to  be  sold,  men  and  women  alike,  were 
exposed  on  a  platform;  attached  to  the  neck  was  a  statement 
of  age,  race,  good  and  bad  qualities.  The  purchaser  became 
their  master;  he  might  sell  them  again  or  bequeath  them  to 
his  heirs.  Children  born  of  a  slave  woman  were  slaves  like 
their  mother. 

The  slave  belonged  to  his  master,  like  a  piece  of  furniture 
or  a  lower  animal.  He  had  no  rights;  he  could  not  call 
anything  his  own,  nor  enjoy  the  privileges  of  husband  and 
father.  He  must  obey  his  master;  whatever  he  was  com- 
manded he  was  bound  to  do,  and  must  satisfy  every  whim, 
even  to  the  commission  of  a  crime.  It  was  the  Roman 
theory  that  a  slave  had  no  soul  and  no  duty  but  obedience. 
The  master  had  absolute  control  over  his  slave;  he  sent  him 
wherever  he  pleased,  made  him  work  as  long  as  he  pleased, 
even  beyond  his  powers,  fed  him  as  he  pleased,  and  might 
beat  him,  imprison  him,  torture  him,  or  kill  him,  as  he 
wished,  without  being  responsible  to  any  one.     Should  the 


164 


THE  ROMAN  PEOPLE. 


'■^■^y/' 


A   SLAVE   SCOURCiED. 


slave  resist  or  run  away,  the  state  aided  the  master  to  subdue 

or  capture  him,  and  the 
freeman  who  sheltered  a 
fugitive  slave  was  held  as 
guilty  of  theft  as  if  he 
had  appropriated  a  stolen 
horse. 

Labor  in  the  fields  was 
performed  by  **  country 
slaves  ' ' :  farm  hands, 
shepherds,  vine-dressers, 
and  gardeners.  Every 
owner  of  a  great  estate 
had  it  cultivated  by  a 
band  of  slaves,  under  an 
overseer  who  was  com- 
monly himself  a  slave. 
The  country  slaves  were  the  most  badly  treated  and  ill  fed 
of  all.  Many  worked  with  irons  on  their  feet.  At  night 
they  were  shut  up  in  an  underground  prison,  the  ergastula, 
lighted  by  high,  narrow  windows.  When  a  master  wanted 
to  punish  a  slave  he  sent  him  into  the  country. 

Still  more  awful  than  the  country  was  the  mill.  The 
ancients  had  not  learned  to  employ  the  force  of  wind  or 
water,  and  all  their  grain  had  to  be  ground  by  hand-mills; 
this  was  a  deadening  form  of  labor,  like  that  in  the  French 
galleys  or  the  English  treadmill.  The  comic  poet  Plautus 
writes  thus  of  the  mill:  "There  wept  the  unhappy  ill- 
fed  slaves,  amid  the  noise  of  whips  and  the  clanking  of 
chains." 

The  "  city  slaves"  were  those  employed  in  the  master's 
personal  service.  The  Romans,  following  the  Oriental 
fashion,  took  pride  in  surrounding  themselves  with  a  host  of 
servants.  In  rich  houses  there  were  sometimes  hundreds  of 
them,  each  detailed  to  his  special  service;  slaves  of  the 
wardrobe  and  personal  attendants;   slave  cooks  and  waiters, 


SOCIAL  AND  POLITICAL   TRANSFORMATION.       165 

and  slaves  in  charge  of  the  silver  plate;  slaves  to  take  care 
of  the  furniture;  slaves  of  the  bath;  a  personal  escort  of 
slaves  for  the  master  and  the  mistress;  litter-bearers;  coach- 
men and  grooms;  readers  and  secretaries;  slave  musicians 
and  actors ;  slave  physicians  and  surgeons.  The  nurses  and 
tutors  were  also  slaves. 


A    WRITER    AND    HIS    IMPLEMENTS. 


The  city  slaves  included  also  the  slave  tailors,  shoemakers, 
masons,  carpenters,  and  artisans  of  all  sorts,  who  supplied 
the  wants  of  their  master,  his  family  and  his  slaves;  for 
among  the  great  Roman  families  almost  everything  was  made 
in  the  house:  bread,   clothing,    and  shoes.     Some  masters 


1 66  The  ROMAN  PEOPLE. 

even  had  their  slaves  manufacture  articles  and  gave  them  to 
their  merchant  slaves  to  sell.  Others  sent  their  slaves  out 
for  hire  as  masons,  sailors,  copyists,  actors,  hair  dressers, 
and  cooks. 

The  treatment  of  slaves  depended  on  the  character  of  their 
master.  Wise  and  humane  masters  took  good  care  of  their 
slaves,  allowed  them  to  have  a  humible  household  of  their 
own,  to  amass  a  little  fortune,  even  to  possess  other  slaves. 
Capricious  and  ill-natured  masters  treated  their  slaves  like 
animals,  beating  and  mutilating  them,  and  killing  them 
without  cause.  A  freedman  of  Augustus  had  some  fish  in  a 
pond;  one  of  his  slaves  being  so  unfortunate  as  to  break  a 
vase,  he  had  him  thrown  in  the  pond  to  feed  the  fishes. 
The  modes  of  punishment  were  very  severe.  If  a  slave 
committed  a  petty  theft,  he  was  suspended  by  the  neck  from 
a  fork.  If  he  ran  away,  his  face  was  branded  with  hot  irons. 
If  he  committed  a  crime,  he  was  crucified. 

Under  this  system  of  terror,  excessive  labor,  or  enforced 
idleness  the  slaves  became  either  taciturn  and  ferocious  or 
cowardly  and  humble.  Many  killed  themselves.  The  rest 
were  finally  reduced  to  an  animal  existence.  Cato  said  that 
he  loved  to  see  a  slave  sleep.  "  The  slave  must  either  work 
or  sleep. 

This  life  stifled  all  feelings  of  pride  and  courage.  The 
word  servile  (pertaining  to  a  slave)  thus  came  to  mean  con- 
temptible. 

The  master  had  the  right  to  free  his  slave.  The  freed 
slave  still  owed  obedience  to  his  master,  but  he  became  a 
Roman  citizen.  There  was  a  distinction  between  the  freed- 
man and  the  born  citizen;  the  former  could  not  receive 
honors  or  enter  the  army.  Even  his  children- were  not 
admitted  to  the  full  privileges  of  citizenship,  though  in  the 
course  of  time  the  distinction  faded  quite  away. 

The  Census. — Every  five  years  the  Romans  undertook  the 
great  work  of  taking  the  census,  in  order  to  fix  the  rank  of 
each    citizen.     The   work    was   in   charge    of  two    censors, 


SOCiAL  AND  POLITICAL   TRANSFORMATION,       167 

chosen    from    among   the    former  consuls;    this  office  was 
regarded  as  the  most  honorable  of  all.^  ^ 

The  censor  first  convoked  all  the  citizens  on  the  Campus  \ 
Martins  and  announced  to  them  his  mode  of  procedure. 
The  citizens  must  then  come  in  person  before  the  censor; 
only  the  sick  and  aged  were  excused.  The  censor  stood  in 
the  open  air  with  his  registers,  on  the  Campus  Martins. 
Each  citizen  presented  himself  in  his  turn  and,  swearing  to 
tell  the  truth,  gave  his  name,  age,  country,  tribe,  father's 
name,  and  the  number  of  years  he  had  served  in  the  army; 
he  stated  the  amount  of  his  fortune,  valued  in  silver.  All 
this  the  censor  entered  on  his  register.  He  had  the  right  to 
raise  the  valuation  given,  if  he  believed  it  understated.  He 
might  also  insert  a  note  if  he  believed  the  citizen  was  not 
conducting  himself  as  he  should.  He  made  a  note  of  any 
citizen  who  had  been  cowardly  in  war,  or  insolent,  or  too 
brutal  towards  his  wife  and  children;  who  neglected  the 
cultivation  of  his  land,  or  did  not  celebrate  the  religious 
festvals  with  regularity,  or  spent  too  much  on  his  table. 
The  censor's  note  dishonored  the  name  against  which  it  wasy 
written.  ^ 

In  this  way  the  censor  drew  up  the  list  of  citizens  and 
divided  them  into  thirty-five  tribes.  Usually  he  placed  each 
citizen  in  the  tribe  he  already  belonged  to,  but  he  had  the 
right  to  change  him  into  another  tribe  and  thus  change  the 
value  of  his  vote  and  even  to  omit  his  name  from  all  of  them 
as  a  form  of  degradation  which  deprived  him  of  the  rights  of 
a  citizen. 

The  censor  drew   up   a  list  of  knights,    with   power  to 

P  The  censorship  was  established  in  443  B.C.  After  351  one  censor 
might  be  a  plebeian,  and  a  little  later  one  must  be  and  both  might  be. 
Censors  were  elected  in  the  centuriate  comitia  at  intervals  of  four  or  five 
years  and  were  required  to  complete  their  work  within  eighteen  months. 
Consuls  and  praetors  could  not  revise  their  action,  and  a  tribune  rarely 
vetoed  it.  The  censor  was  entitled  to  the  curule  chair  and  the  purple 
toga,  but,  not  having  the  imperium,  was  not  attended  by  lictors  ;  nor 
could  he  convoke  the  senate  or  the  comitia.] 


168  THE  ROMAN  PEOPLE, 

degrade  a  knight  by  omitting  his  name.  The  censor  also 
made  a  list  of  the  senators.  He  took  the  list  of  the  preced- 
ing census,  and  added  to  it  the  names  of  those  who  had  since 
been  elected  magistrates,  often  finishing  off  the  list  with  the 


CITIZENS   REGISTERING. 


names  of  certain  other  persons,  always  nobles.  He  had  also 
the  right  to  strike  the  name  of  any  senator  from  the  list. 
One  senator  was  degraded  because  he  possessed  ten  pounds 
of  silver  plate,  another  for  repudiating  his  wife,  another  for 
neglecting  the  tombs  of  his  ancestors. 

This  right  of  degrading  any  citizen  gave  the  censors 
mastery  over  the  honor  of  every  individual,  no  matter  how 
exalted.  The  censors  were  thereby  enabled  to  preserve 
ancient  customs;  their  government  was  called  the  government 
of  customs. 

The  census  completed,  the  censors  called  together  all  the 
people  for  the  great  religious  ceremony  of  purification 
{lustratio).  On  the  appointed  day  all  the  citizens  assembled 
on  the  Campus  Martius,  each  in  his  rank.  The  three 
expiatory  victims,  a  bull,  a  sheep,  and  a  hog  (the  suove- 
taurilid),  were  led  three  times  around  the  assemblage,  and 
then  sacrificed  to  Mars,  the  protecting  deity  of  Rome;  this 
ceremony  was  believed  to  purify  the  city.     After  promising 


SOCIAL   AND  POLITICAL    TRANSFORMATION.        169 

to  Mars  a  similar  sacrifice  on  the  occasion  of  the  next 
lustratio,  the  censor  led  the  people  to  the  city  gates  and  there 
dismissed  them.  He  then  drove  a  nail  into  the  temple  in 
memory  of  the  ceremony,  deposited  there  the  census  lists, 
and  resigned  his  power. 


THK    SUOVETAURILIA.       (BAUMBISTER.) 


A  Session  of  the  Senate. — The  senate  was  composed  of 
all  those  who  had  previously  been  magistrates,  which  meant 
the  wealthiest  and  most  noble  in  Rome.  It  had  grown  to 
be  the  real  head  of  the  government  without,  however, 
departing  from  ancient  forms:  it  could  not  call  itself  together 
nor  give  an  order,  being  in  principle  but  the  advisory  council 
of  the  magistrates. 

When  a  magistrate  wished  to  consult  the  senate  he  con- 
voked it  by  crier.  Before  the  senators  assembled  he  made  a 
sacrifice  to  assure  himself  of  the  favor  of  the  gods.  The 
senators  met  in  a  temple,  usually  the  Curia  Hostilia  in  the 
Forum,  a  very  plain  whitewashed  building  with  wooden 
benches.  The  senate  was  forbidden  by  religion  to  meet  in 
any  but  a  sacred  place.  The  magistrates  sat  on  their  curule 
chairs,  the  senators  on  the  wooden  benches.  The  hall  was 
left  open,  but  the  public  was  not  permitted  to  enter. 

The  presiding  magistrate   opened  the   meeting  with  an 


I70  THE   ROMAN  PEOPLE. 

address,  in  which  he  made  the  desired  communications  to 
the  senate,  beginning  with  religious  matters;  he  read  letters 
from  the  generals  or  the  governors,  then  gave  audience  to 
foreign  envoys,  and  to  magistrates  or  senators  who  had 
reports  to  make. 

He  then  brought  up  the  question  on  which  he  wished  to 
consult  the  senate,  beginning  with  these  words;  **  In  the 
interest  of  the  Roman  people,  conscript  fathers,  we  submit 
this  matter  to  you,"  and  ending  with  these:  *'  What  is  to 
be  done  about  this  ?  " 

The  presiding  officer  questioned  the  senators  one  by  one, 
in  the  order  of  official  seniority  (consuls,  praetors,  sediles, 
tribunes,  quaestors).  The  form  of  question  was:  "  Speak, 
so  and  so."  Each,  answering  from  his  place,  either  rose 
and  explained  the  reasons  for  his  opinion,  or  remained 
seated,  saying  that  he  seconded  the  advice  of  a  certain  col- 
league. Ordinarily  only  those  first  called  on  spoke,  the 
others  merely  advocating  an  opinion  already  given.  A 
quicker  plan  was  finally  adopted:  the  magistrate  said,  '*  Let 
those  who  are  of  this  opinion  stand  on  the  right."  (The 
hall  was  cut  in  two  by  a  passage.)  The  senators  divided 
and  were  counted.  The  senators  of  the  lowest  rank,  those 
who  had  not  been  magistrates,  never  spoke;  they  simply 
took  their  places  on  one  side  or  the  other;  they  were  called 
pedant  (or  pedarii,  those  who  vote  with  the  feet).  The 
magistrate  dismissed  the  senate  by  saying:  "Conscript 
fathers,  we  will  detain  you  no  longer." 

In  later  days  the  decree  of  the  senate  \senatus  consuliuni) 
had  to  be  drawn  up  in  the  presence  of  two  senators. 

The  Forum. — The  political  life  of  Rome  was  centred  in 
the  Forum,  the  market-place  between  the  Palatine  and 
Capitoline  hills.  It  was  a  small  place  for  so  large  a  city  and 
was  still  further  reduced  by  the  encroachment  of  monuments. 
On  the  east  stood  the  Curia  Hostilia,  where  the  sittings  of 
the  senate  were  held ;  on  the  south,  the  little  round  temple 
of  Vesta  which  sheltered  the  sacred  hearth  of  the  city  (see 


SOCIAL  AND  POLITICAL    TRANSFORMATION,        171 

page  4c),  and  the  temple  of  Castor  and  Pollux,  built  near 
the  spring  where  the  two  gods  were  said  to  have  been  seen 
washing  their  arms  (see  page  56);  on  the  west,  a  row  of 
shops;  on  the  north,  the  rostrum  and  the  column  built  in 
honor  of  Duilius;  not  to  mention  the  statues  all  over  the 
square. 

Here  the  assembly  of  tribes,  or  comitia  tribute,  usually 
met,  on  market  days,  when  the  peasants  came  to  town.  A 
magistrate,  commonly  a  tribune  of  the  plebs,  presided.  He 
addressed  the  citizens,  who  were  assembled  in  a  confused 
multitude;  he  explained  the  question  on  which  they  were  to 
vote,  and  asked  for  an  opinion.  The  orator  stood  on  the 
rostrum,  a.  square  space  consecrated  by  auspices  and  raised 
a  little  above  the  level  of  the  market-place.  It  was  called 
the  rostrum  because  the  front  of  it  was  decorated  with  the 
beaks  {rosird)  of  the  Antiate  ships. 

To  make  himself  heard  by  the  assembly,  which  was  often 
very  noisy,  the  orator  spoke  in  loud  tones  and  gesticulated 
violently;  he  sometimes  walked  about  on  the  platform  while 
speaking. 

Elections. — A  man  who  wished  to  be  elected  to  a  magis- 
tracy had  to  make  a  declaration.  Then,  on  each  market 
day,  he  must  come  and  stand  on  an  elevated  platform  so 
that  every  one  might  see  him;  he  wore  a  white  toga  called 
the  Candida,  whence  came  the  name  "candidate."  He 
spoke  with  the  market  people,  shook  hands,  called  them  by 
name,  and  asked  them  to  vote  for  him. 

The  P'orum  having  become  too  small  for  the  elections,  the 
assemblies,  even  the  assemblies  by  tribes,  voted  on  the 
Campus  JNIartius.  In  the  ancient  assemblies  by  centuries 
all  the  centuries  voted  at  once,  except  one  century  chosen 
by  lot  to  vote  first. 

In  the  morning  of  an  election  day  the  citizens  assembled 
on  the  Campus  Martins.  Here  there  was  a  great  open  space 
surrounded  by  a  wooden  fence  like  a  sheepfold;  this  was 
called    the    ovile.      The    citizens    entered    this    space   and 


172 


THE  ROMAN  PEOPLE. 


arranged  themselves  in  tribes  and  centuries.  Each  was  given 
a  wooden  tablet  on  which  he  wrote  the  names  of  his  candi- 
dates.      One    by    one    they    filed    across   a  narrow  bridge, 


dropping  their  tablets  into  an  urn  as  they  passed.  This 
system  had  been  established  only  in  139  b.c.  ;  prior  to  that 
date  the  citizen,  as  he  passed,  declared  in  a  loud  tone  the 
name  of  the  candidate  for  whom  he  voted.    (See  Appendix  A. ) 

Career  of  Honors. — At  Rome  a  magistracy  was  termed  an 
honor,  not  a  profession.  The  magistrate  received  no  salary; 
on  the  contrary,  he  had  to  spend  money  to  win  the  election. 
Even  after  his  election  he  had  to  spend  a  good  deal,  being 
obliged  to  give  feasts  to  the  people  at  his  own  expense. 

The  magistrates  were  always  rich  men  and  usually  nobles. 
The  nobles  supported  one  another  and  easily  made  them- 
selves known  to  the  voters.  The  limit  of  age  for  candidacy 
to  each  office,  and  the  order  in  which  the  offices  might  be 
sought,  had  \)een  definitely  fixed.  Every  candidate  must 
first  have  served  ten  campaigns  in  the  army. 

At  the  age  of  twenty-five  he  could  be  elected  quaestor,  or 


SOCML  AND  POLITICAL    TRANSFORMATION.        I73 

paymaster;  then  tribune  of  the  people,  having  the  right  to 
call  the  people  together;  or  aedile,  director  of  police  and 
commissariat  in  Rome;  next  praetor,  administrator  of  justice, 
or  governor  of  a  province;  then  consul,  or  governor  of  the 
republic  and  commander  of  the  army;  finally  censor  (at  the 
minimum  age  of  fifty),  in  charge  of  the  list  of  citizens  and 
the  celebration  of  the  lustratio. 

Thus  the  same  man  was  in  turn  paymaster,  administrator, 
judge,  general,  and  statesman.  This  series  of  offices  was 
called  the  "career  of  honors."  Each  office  was  of  one 
year's  tenure,  and  each  progressive  step  required  a  new  elec- 
tion. 

Provincial  Administration. — The  original  Roman  gov- 
ernment had  been  designed  only  for  the  city  and  its  bit  of 
outlying  territory.  A  new  system  was  necessary  for  the 
countries  the  Romans  had  conquered. 

In  Italy,  when  the  Romans  had  subjugated  a  people,  they 
did  not  take  the  trouble  to  administer  it,  but  were  content 
with  demanding  soldiers  and  sometimes  money  and  leaving 
to  each  people  its  own  government  and  laws.  These  peoples 
were  of  various  descriptions,  colonies  whose  inhabitants  were 
Roman  citizens,  Latin  colonies,  allied  cities,  and  free  cities. 
Rome  did  not  need  to  send  out  officials;  the  Roman  magis- 
trates were  sufficient  to  govern  all  Italy. 

When  Rome  made  conquests  outside  of  Italy,  she  began 
by  sending  to  each  country  a  special  magistrate,  a  praetor, 
who  was  to  assume  the  government.  A  country  subject  to 
such  a  governor  was  called  a  province.  The  oldest  of  the 
provinces  were  the  countries  taken  from  Carthage:  Sicily, 
Sardinia,  and  the  two  Spanish  provinces.  As  the  number  of 
provinces  increased,  in  order  to  avoid  creating  new  magis- 
trates it  became  the  custom  to  send  out  a  magistrate, 
consul,  or  praetor,  as  soon  as  he  completed  his  term  of  office 
in  Rome.  His  power  was  thus  prolonged,  but  only  in  his 
province,  for  he  was  no  longer  consul  (or  praetor)  but  pro- 
consul (or  propraetor). 


T74  THE  ROMAN  PEOPLE. 

At  the  expiration  of  his  term  as  consul,  the  proconsul  left 
Rome.  Wearing  a  martial  cloak  and  accompanied  by  a 
military  escort,  he  marched  directly  to  his  province  by  a  road 
designated  in  advance.  Once  in  his  province  his  power  was 
absolute  (the  imperiuni)  like  that  of  the  early  Roman  kings, 
and  he  exercised  it  at  will,  being  the  only  magistrate  (the 
quaestor,  usually  a  young  man  who  accompanied  him  as 
paymaster,  was  his  inferior).  The  proconsul  had  in  his 
province  neither  colleagues  to  dispute  his  power,  nor 
tribunes  to  check  him,  nor  senate  to  keep  watch  over  him. 
He  was  sole  commander  of  all  the  troops  of  the  province, 
led  them  to  fight  where  he  pleased,  and  cantoned  them 
where  he  pleased.  He  held  his  court  or  praetorium,  going 
from  city  to  city  to  render  his  decrees;  he  had  power  to  fine, 
imprison,  and  execute. 

On  reaching  his  province  he  drew  up  an  ordinance,  the 
edict,  setting  forth  his  system  of  jurisprudence,  and  this  edict 
had  the  force  of  law.  He  issued  commands  to  the  inhab- 
itants to  arm  themselves  and  fight  under  his  orders  or  to 
furnish  him  with  supplies,  arms,  beasts  of  burden,  as  many 
as  he  chose  to  ask.  In  a  word,  he  was  a  sovereign,  for  he 
represented  in  his  single  person  the  whole  Roman  people. 

The  Romans,  having  subjugated  the  province,  endeavored 
to  further  their  own  interests  there  instead  of  those  of  the 
province.  "  The  provinces,"  said  Cicero,  "are  the  estates 
of  the  Roman  people."  The  inhabitants  of  a  conquered 
country  became  subjects  of  Rome,  not  citizens,  and 
remained  foreigners  [peregrini).  They  had  to  render  a 
proportion  of  their  harvest,  a  tribute  in  silver,  and  a  tax  for 
each  family.  They  were  obliged  to  obey  all  orders  from 
Rome,  in  the  person  of  their  governor. 

This  governor,  whom  no  one  could  resist,  often  ruled  as 
a  despot,  imprisoning,  whipping,  and  executing  those  who 
displeased  him.  The  following  instance  was  given  by  a 
Roman  orator:  **  A  consul  was  recently  sent  to  Teanum  (in 
Campania);    his  wife  took   a  fancy  to  bathe  in  the  men's 


SOCIAL  AND  POLITICAL    TRANSFORMATION.        I7S 

bath.  The  men  who  were  bathing  were  sent  away,  but  the 
consul's  wife  complained  of  the  delay  and  said  the  baths 
were  not  well  kept.  The  consul  sent  for  the  chief  magis- 
trate of  the  city,  M.  Marius;  the  lictor  bound  him  to  a  stake 
in  the  public  square,  stripped  him  and  beat  him  with  rods." 

Ordinarily  the  proconsul  regarded  his  province  as  a  source 
of  personal  wealth.  He  robbed  the  temples  of  their  treasure 
and  forced  the  cities  and  the  rich  inhabitants  to  give  him 
money,  art  treasures,  and  valuable  garments.  Nothing 
could  have  been  easier.  As  he  was  able  to  quarter  his 
troops  wherever  he  wished,  the  cities  paid  him  to  keep  his 
army  away;  as  he  could  condemn  to  death  at  will,  individ- 
uals paid  him  to  spare  their  lives;  whatever  he  asked  none 
dared  refuse. 

The  governor  made  haste  to  acquire  wealth,  having  a 
term  of  only  one  year  in  which  to  make  his  fortune.  Then 
he  returned  to  Rome,  his  place  was  taken  by  another,  and 
the  whole  process  began  again.  There  was  a  law  forbidding 
a  governor  to  accept  a  present,  and  a  court  had  been  created 
to  prosecute  the  crime  of  extortion.  But  this  court,  com- 
posed of  nobles,  was  loath  to  condemn  a  noble  simply  for 
the  sake  of  doing  justice  to  his  subjects.  If  by  chance  a 
governor  was  condemned,  he  was  exiled  from  the  province, 
and  retired  to  some  Italian  city  to  enjoy  his  ill-gotten  for- 
tune. Condemnation  was  not  even  a  punishment  and  did 
no  good  whatever;  on  the  contrary  the  inhabitants,  by 
accusing  their  former  governor,  exposed  themselves  to  the 
hatred  of  his  successor.  The  name  proconsul  finally  became 
synonymous  with  despot  (see  the  story  of  Verres,  page  218). 

The  governor  was  not  the  only  robber.  He  had  always  a 
staff  of  friends,  officers,  and  lawyers  who  one  and  all  followed 
his  example.  In  addition  to  these  there  were  the  publicans 
(see  page  161)  who  had  bought  from  the  Roman  people  the 
right  to  collect  the  taxes,  customs  duties,  and  land  rents. 
Each  of  these  had  in  the  province  his  staff  of  clerks  and  col- 
lectors,   who  regarded  the  people  as  their  subjects;  they 


176  THE  ROMAN  PEOPLE, 

made  them  pay  more  than  was  their  due,  abused  and  im- 
prisoned them,  and  even  sold  them  as  slaves.  The  name 
publican  thus  came  to  mean  robber. 

PARALLEL  READING. 

Duruy cc.  xxxiv,  xxxvi. 

liine Bk.  vi,  cc.  i-xi. 

Mommsen Bk.  in,  cc.  xi-xii. 

Botsford c.  vi,  pp.  129-143. 

How  and  Leigh c.  xxxviii,  pp.  293-301,  c.  xxix. 

Morey c.  xviii,  pp.  143-148. 

Pehiam Bk.  iii,  c.  iii,  pp.  1 58-192. 

Stiuckburgh c.  xxvi. 

Abbott cc.  V,  viii-xi. 

Greenidge cc.  iv-viii. 

Arnold,  W.  T Roman  System  of  Provincial  Administra 

Hon, 


CHAPTER    XIII. 
THE   GRACCHI 

Beginning  of  the  Revolutions. — The  old  constitution  of 
Rome  had  endured  as  long  as  the  Romans  preserved  their 
old  customs.  When  the  customs  were  changed  the  consti- 
tution was  no  longer  respected. 

The  nobles,  who  monopolized  the  senate  and  the  public 
offices,  had  ceased  to  govern  honestly  in  the  interests  of  the 
state.  They  had  to  have  money  to  live  in  luxury,  and  they 
devoted  their  power  to  their  own  enrichment. 

The  people  gave  up  country  life  and  moved  to  the  city, 
where,  having  lost  their  means  of  livelihood,  they  lived  on 
what  they  could  get  for  their  votes. 

The  soldiers  no  longer  fought  for  the  love  of  their  country  : 
they  enlisted  for  the  wages  and  booty,  and  recognized  no 
authority  but  that  of  their  general. 

The  senatorial  government  had  now  become  impracticable 
and  a  series  of  revolutions  began  which  lasted  for  a  century. 
For  a  hundred  years  the  Romans  and  their  subjects  lived  in 
the  midst  of  riot  and  civil  war. 

Tiberius  Gracchus. — The  first  attempt  to  alter  the  old 
constitution  was  made  by  Tiberius  Sempronius  Gracchus. 

He  came  of  a  very  noble  family.  His  father  had  been 
censor.  His  mother,  the  famous  Cornelia,  was  a  daughter 
of  the  great  Scipio.  His  father  had  died  while  he  was  still 
very  young,  and  he  had  been  brought  up  by  his  mother, 
together  with  his  brother  Caius,  his  junior  by  nine  years. 

Cornelia  was  said  to  be  the  most  virtuous  woman  in  Rome. 
The  king  of  Egypt  asked  her  hand  in  marriage,  but  was  refused. 

177 


17^  THE  ROMAN  PEOPLE. 

She  lived  simply  and  without  luxury.  One  day  she  was  in  a 
gathering  of  Roman  ladies ;  each  had  shown  her  jewels,  and 
they  called  on  her  to  show  hers.  She  sent  for  her  two  sons  and 
said  :  "  Here  are  my  jewels." 

Tiberius  was  educated  by  two  Greek  philosophers,  Blossius 
of  Cumae  and  Diophanes  of  Mitylene;  he  became  a  learned 
man  and  an  eloquent  speaker.  His  disposition  was  amiable; 
in  his  public  speeches  he  was  calm  and  sedate.  He  lived  in; 
great  simplicity,  like  the  ancient  Romans. 

He  quickly  won  the  esteem  and  affection  of  the  people. 
They  elected  him  quaestor  and  he  went  into  Spain  with  the 
consul  Mancinus,  who  was  captured  by  the  Numantians. 
On  his  return  to  Rome  he  was  made  tribune  of  the  people 
and  began  to  agitate  for  reform. 

Ruin  of  the  Peasantry. — The  Roman  plebs  was  formerly 
composed  -of  small  landowners  w^ho  cultivated  their  own 
land.  These  peasant  proprietors  formed  both  the  assembly 
of  the  people  and  the  army.  Now,  in  133  B.C.,  the  class 
had  disappeared.  During  the  period  of  foreign  wars  the 
peasant  could  not  come  home  every  year  to  cultivate  his 
land.  Many  perished  in  these  wars,  others  remained  in  the 
conquered  countries.  Those  who  did  return  could  no 
longer  sell  their  grain  at  a  living  price,  because  Rome  was 
now  importing  grain  as  tribute  from  Sicily  and  Africa. 

The  nobles  and  other  men  of  wealth  bought  the  peasants' 
land;  uniting  the  small  farms  they  formed  large  estates,  and 
used  them  as  meadows,  vineyards,  or  pastures.  Slaves  were 
employed  for  the  breeding  and  care  of  cattle.  In  time  these 
great  proprietors  and  their  bands  of  slaves  occupied  the 
whole  country.  Pliny  said  later:  '*  The  great  estates  have 
ruined  Italy.'* 

On  the  other  hand  the  city  of  Rome  had  been  overrun  by 
a  population  which  had  no  property  and  could  not  maintain 
itself. 

Tiberius,  while  passing  through  Etruria,  was  much  im- 
pressed when  he  saw  so  fertile  a  country  almost  a  desert  and 


Longitude 


East 


THE  GROWTH 

of  the 

ROMAN  DOMINION 

To  the  time  of  the  Gracchi. 

SCALE  OF  MILES 
1  I  I  1  I  I 

0  100         200         300         400         500         ( 


> 


Roman  Power  in  264.  B.  C. 
Acquired  241-21S  B.  C. 
Acquired  201-133  B.  C. 
3 Allies  of  Rome  in  133  B.  C. 
Carthaginian  Posessions  264 


40  Greenwich 


EN&RAVED   BY   BORMAY   &    CO.,    N.Y. 


THE  CkACCHL  179 

inhabited  only  by  slaves.  He  was  also  disturbed  by  seeing 
that  there  were  no  longer  enough  citizens  to  recruit  the  army. 

When  he  became  tribune  he  attempted  to  revive  the 
peasant  population.  In  a  public  speech  he  said:  "The 
wild  beasts  of  Italy  have  at  least  their  dens,  but  the  men  who 
shed  their  blood  for  Italy  have  only  the  light  and  the  air  they 
breathe;  they  wander  houseless,  homeless,  with  their  wives 
and  children.  The  generals  lie  when  they  urge  them  to 
fight  for  their  firesides  and  the  tombs  of  their  ancestors. 
Among  all  these  Romans  is  there  one  who  still  possesses  a 
fireside  of  his  own  or  the  tomb  of  his  fathers  ?  They  fight 
and  die  only  that  others  may  live  in  luxury.  They  are  called 
the  masters  of  the  earth,  but  they  own  nothing  themselves, 
not  even  a  handful  of  earth." 

Agrarian  Laws. — This  was  the  reform  measure  Gracchus 
wished  to  adopt : 

Rome  possessed  very  extensive  public  lands,  which  she 
had  acquired  in  the  following  manner.  When  a  conquered 
people  sued  for  peace,  Rome  forced  them  to  yield  her  their 
territory.  The  ancient  formula  pronounced  by  the  envoys 
was:  **  We  yield  to  you  our  people,  our  city,  our  lands,  our 
waters,  and  all  our  goods;  everything  which  belongs  to  gods 
and  men  we  deliver  into  the  power  of  the  Roman  people." 
In  this  way  all  the  land  became  the  property  of  the  Roman 
people  as  public  lands. 

Ordinarily  it  was  divided  into  three  parts: 

I.  One  was  given  to  the  inhabitants,  on  payment  of  a 
certain  amount  of  grain  and  money  as  rent. 

II.  Ploughed  lands  and  pastures  were  farmed  out  to  com- 
panies of  contractors  (publicans)  who  sublet  them  or  levied 
a  tax  on  each  head  of  cattle. 

III.  The  rest  was  turned  into  waste  land  on  which  any 
Roman  citizen  might  settle  and  take  possession  of  a  bit  of 
it  for  farm  or  pasture  land. 

The  Roman  people  remained  proprietors  of  the  land, 
reserving  the  right  to  resume  possession  of  it  at  will. 


i8o  THE  ROMAN  PEOPLE, 

Tiberius  proposed  to  the  people  an  agrarian  law  ^  which 
would  dispose  of  a  part  of  this  land  {ager  publicus).  The 
occupants  of  public  lands  were  to  give  them  up  (with  the 
provision  that  each  might  reserve  five  hundred  acres).  The 
state  resumed  possession  of  these  lands  and  distributed  them 
to  poor  citizens,  a  thirty-acre  lot  in  Italy  for  each  family. 

This  law  was  not  intended  to  dispossess  the  owner  of 
land.  No  Roman  would  have  entertained  a  thought  of  this, 
for  private  property  was  guaranteed  by  religion;  the  boun- 
daries of  each  estate  were  guarded  by  gods,  the  gods 
Termini,  and  no  one  dared  move  them.  It  related  only  to 
public  property  and  left  the  people  the  right  to  resume  pos- 
session at  will.     Still  the  plan  did  not  work  very  easily. 

Almost  all  the  territory  of  the  Mediterranean  basin 
belonged  to  the  Roman  people.  Some  of  it  had  been  in 
peaceful  possession  of  certain  families  for  centuries,  and  had 
come  to  be  regarded  by  every  one  as  their  rightful  property ; 
such  lands  might  be  leased,  bought,  or  sold.  The  resump- 
tion of  them  meant  the  sudden  ruin  of  a  large  number  of 
people,  not  only  Roman  nobles  hut  Italians,  and  even 
peasants. 

Further,  as  the  Romans  had  no  property  register,  it  was 
often  very  difficult  to  determine  whether  a  certain  piece  of 
land  was  public  or  private  property.  Tiberius  suggested  the 
appointment  of  three  commissioners,  "  charged  with  the 
distribution  of  the  land,"  whose  business  it  should  be  to 
decide  the  ownership  of  each  piece  of  land.  This  was  to 
give  them  control  of  the  fortune  of  every  citizen. 

The  agrarian  law  pleased  the  people,  but  filled  the  senators 
and  the  rich  with  consternation.  Octavius,  a  tribune  of  the 
people,  took  the  part  of  the  latter  and  declared  himself 
opposed  to  the  law.      Now  religion  forbade  disregard  of  a 

'  We  are  told  that  there  had  already  been  agrarian  laws,  and  even 
that  Licinius  had  secured  the  passage  of  one  ahnost  exactly  like  this  of 
Tiberius,  as  early  as  366  B.C.  The  Romans  had,  however,  no  certain 
knowledge  of  agrarian  laws  earlier  than  those  of  the  Gracchi. 


THE   GRACCHI.  i8i 

tribune's  veto  (see  page  47)-  Tiberius  begged  his  colleague 
to  withdraw  his  veto,  but  Octavius  refused.  Tiberius  tried 
to  force  him  by  declaring  that  he  would  let  nothing  else 
come  up  until  the  law  had  been  voted  on;  he  closed  the 
treasury  and  the  courts.  The  nobles  threatened  him  with 
assassination;  he  adopted  the  habit  of  carrying  a  dagger 
under  his  toga.  He  called  the  people  together  to  vote;  the 
nobles  carried  away  the  urns. 

He  finally  decided  to  ask  the  people  to  pass  a  law  remov- 
ing Octavius  from  office.  Such  a  law  had  never  been 
proposed  before.  The  people  assembled.  One  by  one  the 
tribes  voted;  when  the  seventeenth  had  voted  (eighteen 
being  necessary  for  a  majority),  Tiberius,  it  is  said,  embraced 
Octavius  and  implored  him  to  retract  his  veto.  Octavius 
wept  but  said  nothing.  **  Let  the  will  of  the  people  be 
done,"  said  Tiberius.  The  assembly  voted  the  expulsion. 
Octavius  refused  to  withdraw  from  office  and  Tiberius  had 
him  ejected  by  force.  The  mob  tried  to  kill  him  and  a 
fight  ensued;  a  slave  belonging  to  Octavius  had  his  eyes  torn 
out.  The  agrarian  law  was  then  passed  and  Tiberius,  his 
father-in-law  Appius,  and  his  brother  Caius  were  appointed 
commissioners  to  enforce  it.  Tiberius  governed  Rome  till 
the  end  of  the  year  (133  b.c). 

Death  of  Tiberius. — When  the  year  of  his  tribunate  was 
at  an  end,  Tiberius  tried  to  secure  his  reelection  for  another 
year.  His  enemies  threatened  him,  however,  and  he  called 
on  the  people  to  defend  him.  His  partisans  mounted  .guard 
over  his  house  by  night  to  prevent  assassination.  In  the 
morning  Tiberius  went  up  to  the  Capitol  where  the  people 
had  assembled  to  vote.  The  voting  began,  but  the  crowd  was 
dense  and  the  people  grew  excited.  A  senator,  a  friend  of 
Tiberius,  came  to  tell  him  that  the  nobles  had  prepared  a 
troop  of  armed  slaves  to  kill  him.  Tiberius  conveyed  the 
news  to  those  nearest  him,  and  they  broke  apart  the  lictors' 
fasces  to  use  as  weapons.  To  those  who  were  too  far  away 
to  hear  his  voice,  Tiberius  raised  his  hand  to  his  head  as  a 


l82  THE  ROMA>]  PEOPLE. 

sign  that  his  enemies  desired  his  head.  Some  of  those  who 
saw  this  sign  ran  to  tell  the  senators,  who  had  assembled  at 
the  foot  of  the  hill,  that  Tiberius  had  pointed  to  his  forehead 
as  a  request  for  a  diadem,  and  that  he  was  going  to  proclaim 
himself  king.  A  noble,  Scipio  Nasica,  urged  the  consul  to 
go  and  "  kill  the  tyrant."  The  consul  refused  to  kill  any 
citizen  without  due  judgment.  Nasica  jumped  up  and 
cried:  "Since  the  consul  is  a  traitor  to  the  republic,  let 
those  who  wish  to  defend  it  follow  me!  "  He  ascended  the 
hill,  followed  by  the  senators,  each  with  his  arm  wrapped  in 
his  toga.  They  armed  themselves  on  the  way  with  debris 
from  the  benches  broken  by  the  scattered  multitude.  They 
had  with  them  a  band  of  slaves  armed  with  clubs.  Tiberius 
and  his  party  tried  to  escape.  Tiberius  fell,  struck  down  by 
the  leg  of  a  bench  in  the  hand  of  a  senator.  Three  hundred 
of  his  supporters  were  killed  with  sticks  or  stones,  and  their 
bodies  thrown  into  the  Tiber.  The  body  of  Tiberius  was 
refused  burial,  and  his  friends  massacred  or  exiled  (133  B.C.). 

Scipio  .ffimilianus. — The  agrarian  law  was  not  repealed; 
the  commissioners  continued  to  distribute  lands,  and  Nasica, 
looked  upon  as  guilty  of  murder,  tyranny,  and  sacrilege,  was 
obliged  to  leave  Italy.  The  senate,  however,  resumed  its 
control. 

The  most  powerful  man  in  Rome  at  this  time  was  Scipio 
iEmilianus,  the  destroyer  of  Carthage  and  Numantia.  He 
had  returned  from  Spain  and  declared  his  opposition  to  the 
agrarian  law. 

We  are  told  that  when,  before  Numantia,  he  heard  of  the 
murder  of  Tiberius,  he  quoted  this  line  from  Homer: 

"  So  perish  all  who  follow  him  !  " 

He  carried  a  law  depriving  the  commissioners  of  the  right 
to  decide  whether  or  not  a  piece  of  land  was  public  property, 
While  he  was  speaking  he  was  constantly  interrupted  by  the 
assembled  crowd.  He  cried :  ' '  Silence,  false  sons  of  Italy ! 
You  will  have  your  labor  for  your  pains:  those  whom  I 


THE   GRACCHI.  183 

brought  to  Rome  in  chains  I  do  not  fear,  even  now  that  they 
are  free. ' ' 

VIAM•FECE^A&RECfO'  ADCAPVA^'ET 
I N-FAVIA-PONTEISOMNEISMILI ARIOS 
TABELARlOSOyEpoSEIVElHlNCESVNl 
NOVCERIAM'MEIUaXI  •CArVAM-XXCIIII 
AAVRANVAAXXXIIIhCOSENTIAA/NCXXIII 
VALFNTIAMCJ.XXX*-   AD'FRETVM'Ar 
STATVA/A'CCXXXIi-  REGIVMCGXXXVI' 
SVMAAFCArVARECIVM-MEILIACCC 
ETEIDE/WPRAE  TOR-IN  v^Xif 

SICIL|AFVCITEIVOS-ITALlCORVA\ 

conqvaeisive  l-repideiove 
hoaaines-i^ccccxvii-  eide/saqve 
r  rimvsf  e  ce i v  tde-ac  rop  oplicq 
ARatoribvscederentpaastores 

roRVM-AE  DlSOy  ErOPLlCASH  EIGFECtI 

MILESTONE    OF    POPILIUS   L^NAS  *    (aBOUT    I30   B.C.). 

The  Latins  complained  that  their  lands  were  taken  from 
them  to  be  given  to  poor  Romans,  and  they  came  in  a  body 
to  Rome.  Scipio  took  their  part.  One  morning  (129  b.c.) 
he  was  found  dead  in  his  bed,  doubtless  from  natural  causes; 
he  was  fifty-six  years  old  and  in  poor  health.  Later,  how- 
ever, his  enemies  were  accused  of  killing  him. 

Gaius  Gracchus. — Gains  Gracchus,  brother  of  Tiberius, 
was  twenty-one  years  old  at  the  time  of  his  brother's  death. 
He  immediately  took  up  his  brother's  plans.  He  was  a 
more  daring  and  more  eloquent  man,  and  won  instant 
applause  from  the  people. 

\}  Summarized  translation  :  /  have  built  the  road  from  Capua  to 
Rhegiwu,  and  have  placed  upon  it  all  the  bridges,  milestones,  and  des- 
patch-bearers. From  Capua  to  Rhegium  is  three  hundred  and  twenty -one 
{Roman)  miles.  As  prat  or  in  Sicily  I  have  conquered  and  returned  to 
their  masters  nine  hundred  and  seventeeti  fugitives.  I  also  have  first 
caused  the  shepherds  to  yield  the  ptibl'.c  lands  to  cultivators.  I  have  built 
a  forum  and  public  temples.'\ 


184  THE  ROMAhl  PEOPLE. 

He  was  elected  quaestor  and  sent  to  Sardinia  in  126  B.C. 
The  winter  was  severe  and  the  soldiers  had  not  warm  enough 
clothes.  Gains  went  from  city  to  city  to  ask  clothing  of  the 
inhabitants.  When  his  term  of  office  was  at  an  end,  the 
senate  ordered  him  to  remain  in  his  province,  but  Gaius 
returned  to  Rome.  The  censors  wishing  to  punish  him  for 
this,  Gaius  said  to  them:  "The  law  demanded  of  me  ten 
campaigns,  I  have  made  twelve;  the  law  installed  me  for 
but  one  year,  I  remained  three.  I  have  seen  no  festivities. 
I  have  received  no  gifts.  I  have  spent  none  of  the  people's 
money.  The  purse  I  took  with  me  I  have  brought  back 
empty.  Others  have  taken  out  casks  of  wine  and  brought 
them  back  full  of  gold." 

In  123  B.C.  he  was  elected  tribune  of  the  people,  and  had 
at  once  the  support  of  all.  Never  yet  had  so  eloquent  an 
orator  been  heard  in  Rome.  He  spoke  with  energy,  gesticu- 
lating and  walking  about,  and  often  raising  his  voice  to  a 
shout.  All  previous  orators,  speaking  from  the  rostrum  in 
the  public  square,  had  faced  the  senate  chamber;  Gaius  faced 
the  people  as  a  sign  that  he  considered  the  assembly  to  be 
the  real  sovereign. 

Measures  of  Gaius  Gracchus  (123  b.c). — Gains  carried 
a  number  of  laws  which  transformed  Roman  society: 

I.  An  agrarian  law  ordered  the  resumption  of  public  lands 
in  the  most  fertile  regions,  in  order  to  distribute  them  among 
poor  citizens. 

II.  A  corn  law  decreed  that  the  state  should  buy  grain 
and  sell  it  at  a  reduced  price  to  the  poor  citizens  of  Rome. 

III.  A  third  law  ordained  that  the  price  of  clothing  sup- 
plied to  the  soldiers  should  no  longer  be  deducted  from  their 
pay. 

In  these  ways  the  poorer  citizens  were  to  share  the  wealth 
of  the  state,  which  the  rich  had  heretofore  kept  for  them- 
selves: lands  for  those  who  were  willing  to  go  away  from  the 
city,  grain  for  those  who  stayed  at  home,  and  clothing  for 
those  who  served  in  the  army. 


THE   GRACCHI. 


185 


o 


o  z 

o 
n 


1 86 


THE  ROMAN  PEOPLE, 


IV.  A  fourth  law  transformed  the  criminal  courts. 
Hitherto  all  the  judges  were  senators,  and  therefore,  of 
course,  nobles,  which  made  it  very  difficult  to  convict  a 
noble.  Gains  secured  the  appointment  of  knights  as  judges.^ 
He  said  to  the  senate:  *'  With  this  stroke  I  have  broken  the 
pride  and  power  of  the  nobles."  "  Even  if  you  kill  me, 
can  you  pluck  from  your  side  the  sword  which  I  have  planted 
there  ?  " 

He  also  undertook  the  construction  of  great  roads,  built 
in  a  straight  line,  paved  with  huge  flagstones,  with  posts  to 
mark  the  miles,  and  mounting-stones  for  horsemen. 

At  the  expiration  of  his  term  he  again  presented  himself 
as  a  candidate  ar.d  was  unanimously  reelected.  He  had 
other  projects  in  mind.  He  proposed 
that  all  the  Italians,  or  at  least  the 
Latins,  should  be  made  Roman  citi- 
zens, in  order  to  increase  the  num- 
ber of  citizens.  He  secured  the 
foundation  of  colonies  at  Capua  and 
Tarentum  in  Italy,  and,  in  Africa,  on 
the  old  site  of  Carthage. 

The  senate  was  anxious  to  turn  the 
people  against  him,  and  arranged  with 
another  tribune,  Livius,  for  the  intro- 
duction of  even  more  popular  meas- 
ures. Gaius  asked  for  two  colonies.. 
Livius  proposed  twelve.  The  consul 
Fannius  spoke  against  the  idea  of 
granting  citizenship  to  the  Latins. 
He  said  to  the  people:  "  When  the 
Latins  become  citizens,  do  you  think 
that  you  will  have  the  same  place  in 
the  assemblies,  games,  and  festivals  ? 
Do  you  not  see  that  these  people  will  crowd  you  out  of 
everything  ?  " 

^  The  system  was  changed  seven  times  within  fifty-three  years. 


ROMAN    MILESTONE. 


THE  GRACCHI.  187 

Gaius  was  sent  to  Africa  to  found  the  colony  of  Junonia 
at  Carthage.  At  the  end  of  three  months  he  returned 
to  find  his  party  weakened  and  his  personal  enemy,  Opimius, 
elected  consul.  Gaius  presented  himself  as  a  candidate  for 
the  tribunate,  but  failed  of  election  (122  b.c. ). 

Death  of  Gaius  Gracchus. — Opimius  convoked  the 
assembly  on  the  Capitoline  hill  to  repeal  the  laws  of  Gaius. 
The  two  parties  found  themselves  together  and  began  to 
fight;  they  were  obliged  to  stop  on  account  of  rain,  but  not 
before  a  lictor  had  been  killed. 

On  the  following  day  Opimius  called  the  senate  together 
and  had  the  body  of  the  dead  lictor  brought  to  the  door  of 
the  senate  chamber.  The  senators  went  out  and  looked  at 
it,  then  came  back  and  voted  "  that  the  consuls  should  be 
empowered  to  save  the  Republic."  Opimius  commanded 
the  nobles  and  knights  to  come  around  the  next  day.  In 
the  night  he  sent  a  force  to  occupy  the  Capitol. 

The  next  morning  Gaius,  with  three  thousand  of  his  sup- 
porters, withdrew  to  the  Aventine  Mount.  The  consul  came 
to  attack  them  with  the  nobles,  their  slaves,  and  the  Cretan 
archers.  Gaius  was  unwilling  to  fight.  He  took  refuge  in 
the  temple  of  Diana,  where  he  attempted  suicide,  and  was 
prevented  by  his  friends.  He  tried  to  flee  in  the  direction 
of  the  Tiber,  but  was  overtaken  by  the  enemy  near  the 
wooden  bridge.  Two  of  his  friends  lost  their  lives  while 
defending  the  bridge,  but  they  gave  him  time  to  escape  to  a 
sacred  grove,  whure  he  had  his  slave  kill  him.  Three 
thousand  of  his  party  were  killed;  their  bodies  were  thrown 
into  the  Tiber,  their  goods  confiscated,  and  their  wives  for- 
bidden to  wear  mourning  (121  B.C.). 

A  story  is  told  that,  before  the  battle,  the  consul  had  offered 
its  weight  in  gold  fur  the  head  of  Gaius  Gracchus.  The  man 
who  brought  it  removed  the  brain  and  filled  the  cavity  with 
molten  lead. 

The  consul  had  the  laws  of  Gaius  Gracchus  repealed,  and 
the  senate  was  once  more  master  of  the  government.     But 


1 88  THE  ROMAN  PEOPLE. 

the  Roman  people  remained  divided  in  two  hostile  parties, 
that  of  the  nobles  and  senate  {optunates),  and  that  of  the 
people  {^populares). 

SOURCES. 

Appian Civil  Wars,  Bk.  i,  cc.  i-iii. 

Florus Bk.  iii,  cc.  xiii-xv. 

Livy Epit.,  lviii-lx. 

Plutarch   Tiberius  and  Gains  Gracchus. 

Paterculus Bk.  ii,  §§  1-4,  6,  7. 

PARALLEL   READING. 

Duruy c.  xxxviii. 

Ihne Bk.  vi,  c.  xvi  ;  Bk.  vii,  cc.  i-vi. 

Mommsen Bk.  iv,  cc.  i-iii. 

Abbott c.  vi,  §§  85-87. 

Botsford c.  vii,  pp.  1 51-160. 

Greenidge c.  ix,  pp.  331-333. 

How  and  Leigh cc.  xxxiii,  xxxiv. 

Morey c.  xix. 

Myers c.  xii,  pp.  206-222. 

Pelham Bk.  iv,  c.  i,  pp.  201-214. 

Shuckburgh c.  xxxv. 

Merivale Fall  of  the   Koman    Kepublic,    c.    i, 

pp.  1-31. 

Long Decline  of  the  Roman  Kepicblic. 

Ramsay  and  Lanciani. . . .  Manual  of  Komaji  Antiquities,  c.  vii. 

Beesly,  A.  H The    Gracchi,    Marius    and    Sulla. 

(Epochs.) 


CHAPTER   XIV. 
THE   PERIOD   OF  MARIUS   AND   SULLA. 

Marius. — Two  years  after  the  death  of  Gaius  Gracchus 
Marius  was  elected  tribune  of  the  people  (119  B.C.).  He 
was  not  a  noble;  he  came  from  Arpinum,  a  small  town  in 
Latium,  and  had,  like  the  ancient  Romans,  lived  the  life  of 
a  peasant  and  a  soldier;  he  had  never  learned  to  read  and 
had  no  acquaintance  with  Greek.  The  great  family  of 
Metellus  favored  him  and  secured  his  election. 

Marius  was  opposed  to  the  nobles.  It  was  the  custom 
for  candidates  to  stand  on  the  bridges  across  which  the  voters 
passed  and  watch  them  deposit  their  ballots.  Marius  pro- 
posed a  law  making  these  bridges  narrower.  The  consul 
ordered  him  to  come  to  the  senate  chamber;  Marius  obeyed 
the  summons,  and  threatened  to  have  the  consul  arrested. 
The  law  was  passed. 

When  Marius  presented  himself  for  election  as  aedile,  the 
nobles  prevented  his  election.  He  was  elected  praetor,  being 
last  on  the  list,  but  was  prosecuted  for  buying  votes,  and 
acquitted  only  on  a  tied  vote.  After  the  expiration  of  his 
praetorship  he  was  sent  to  Spain.  He  then  made  peace  with 
the  nobles,  and  Metellus,  who  had  become  consul,  took  him 
with  him  to  make  war  in  Africa. 

War  against  Jugurtha. — West  of  the  African  province 
lay  the  land  of  the  Numidians,  a  race  of  horsemen,  hunters, 
and  shepherds.  They  had  won  fame  in  the  Punic  wars  by 
their  agility  in  using  the  bow  and  spear  on  horseback.  The 
king  of  the  Numidians  was  allied  with  Rome.      His  nephew 

189 


190  THE  ROMAN  PEOPLE. 

Jugurtha  served  in  the  army  which  besieged  Numantia,  and 
Scipio  had  been  struck  with  his  bravery. 

When  the  king  died  he  divided  his  kingdom  among  his 
two  sons  and  his  nephew  Jugurtha  (118  b.c).  The  three 
princes  quarrelled,  and  Jugurtha  had  one  of  them  assassinated 
(117  B.C.).  The  senate  divided  the  kingdom  between 
Jugurtha  and  the  other  one.  War  soon  broke  out  between 
them,  and  the  senate  sent  a  deputation  commanding  Jugurtha 
to  cease  fighting.  Jugurtha  had  the  king,  his  cousin,  put 
to  death.  A  consul  came  from  Rome  with  an  army; 
Jugurtha  offered  him  no  resistance,  but  made  terms  with  him. 

At  Rome  a  report  spread  about  that  the  nobles  had 
received  money  from  Jugurtha.  Memmius,  a  tribune,  spoke 
against  the  nobles,  and  the  people  ordered  Jugurtha  to  come 
to  Rome  and  explain  the  matter.  He  appeared  before  the 
assembly,  but  another  tribune,  probably  paid  by  him,  for- 
bade him  to  speak.  There  was  another  Numidian  prince  in 
Rome  at  the  time,  a  grandson  of  Massinissa;  the  Roman 
people  wished  to  give  the  kingdom  to  him,  but  Jugurtha 
heard  of  the  plan  and  had  him  assassinated.  The  senate 
then  ordered  Jugurtha  to  leave  the  city,  and  Rome  declared 
war  against  him  (no  b.c). 

It  was  said  that  from  the  time  that  he  fought  in  the  Roman 
army  in  Spain,  Jugurtha  had  recognized  the  venality  of  the 
nobles.  "  At  Rome,"  he  said,  "everything  is  for  sale."— There 
was  also  a  story  that  on  quitting  Rome  he  cried  :  '*  Ah,  venal 
city,  thou  wouldst  sell  thyself  if  thou  but  found  a  purchaser!  " 

The  army  sent  against  Jugurtha  was  surprised  and  sur- 
rounded in  its  camp  and  forced  to  surrender.  Jugurtha, 
after  making  the  soldiers  pass  under  the  yoke,  released  them 
on  condition  that  they  should  leave  his  kingdom  within  ten 
days. 

The  senate  broke  this  treaty  and  sent  Metellus,  the  con- 
sul, to  command  an  army  in  Africa.  He  e^te^ed  Numidia 
and  began  to  ravage  the  country  (109  b.c).  At  the  end  of 
a  year,    Jugurtha  sued  for  peace.     Metellus   promised  to 


THE  PERIOD  OF  MARIUS  ^ND  SULLA,  191 

grant  it,  but  demanded  the  surrender  of  his  elephants, 
horses,  arms,  and  Roman  deserters,  and  the  payment  of  two 
hundred  thousand  pounds  of  silver.  Jugurtha  complied  in 
every  particular.  Then  JMetellus  demanded  the  surrender  of 
his  person,  but  rather  than  this  Jugurtha  preferred  to  renew 
the  war. 

The  campaign  which  followed  was  a  severe  one.  The 
army  marched  across  deserts  of  burning  sand,  subjected  to 
sudden  attacks  by  the  Numidian  cavalry.  Marius  made 
himself  popular  with  his  soldiers  by  sharing  their  hardships; 
he  slept  on  the  ground  and  assisted  in  the  work  of  construct- 
ing entrenchments  and  palisades. 

When  the  election  period  was  drawing  near,  Marius  asked 
Metellus  to  let  him  go  to  Rome  and  offer  himself  as  a 
candidate  lor  the  consulship,  but  he  at  first  refused.  Twelve 
days  before  the  elections  he  succeeded  in  getting  permission 
to  leave.  He  reached  Rome  just  in  time  to  be  elected,  and 
the  people  gave  him  command  of  the  war  against  Jugurtha 
(107  B.C.). 

Marius  now  introduced  a  new  policy.  Hitherto  no  man 
coiild  enlist  in  a  legion  unless  he  possessed  a  small  amount 
of  property.  Marius  accepted  all  who  offered  themselves, 
even  actual  paupers.  After  this  fighting  became  a  profession, 
with  a  usual  term  of  twenty-five  years'  service. 

The  war  lasted  over  a  year.  Jugurtha  withdrew  into  the 
territory  of  his  father-in-law  and  neighbor,  Bocchus,  king  of 
Mauritania,  who  returned  with  him  into  Numidia.  The 
Roman  army  again  narrowly  escaped  capture.  Bocchus 
preferred  to  treat  with  the  Romans;  he  proposed  a  peace, 
offering  to  deliver  up  Jugurtha  if  Rome  would  give  him 
favorable  terms. 

Marius  sent  his  quaestor  Sulla,  a  young  noble,  to  negotiate 
with  Bocchus.  Under  pretext  of  treating  with  the  Romans 
they  tricked  Jugurtha  into  coming  to  a  certain  hill;  Mauri- 
tanian  warriors  then  jumped  from  ambush  and  captured  him 
alive  (106  B.C.). 


192  THE  ROM^N  PEOPLE. 

When  Marius  celebrated  his  triumph  at  Rome  a  year  later, 

Jugurtha  figured  in  the  procession.      He  was  then  taken  to 

an   underground   prison  and   left  naked  to  die  of  cold  and 

hunger  (104  B.C.). 

It  is  said  that  the  lictors  who  escorted  him  to  the  prison  tore 
off  his  robe  and  lacerated  his  ears  in  taking  the  ornaments  from 
them.  We  are  also  told  that  Jugurtha,  who  had  become  insane 
during  the  triumphal  march,  thought  himself  at  the  baths  and 
said,  "  How  cold  your  hot  rooms  are ! " 

Invasion  by  the  Cimbri  and  Teutons. — The  war  with 
Jugurtha  was  scarcely  over  when  Rome  had  to  face  a  new 
and  great  danger.  Two  peoples,  the  Cimbri  and  the  Teutons, 
had  left  the  north  of  Germany  and  were  marching  across 
Europe  in  search  of  a  place  in  which  to  settle.  They  were 
bringing  with  them  all  their  possessions,  their  wives, 
children,  and  slaves,  their  cattle  and  dogs,  with  their  house- 
hold goods  in  leather-covered  wagons  drawn  by  oxen.  They 
were  large  men,  with  light  hair  and  blue  eyes,  and  their  food 
was  raw  beef. 

A  Roman  general  was  sent  into  Noricum,  an  allied  terri- 
tory south  of  the  Danube,  to  turn  them  back.  He  was 
defeated,  however,  and  his  army  destroyed. 

Still  the  barbarians  made  no  attempt  to  attack  Italy,  but 
invaded  Gaul,  which  for  four  years  they  ravaged  and  pillaged. 
They  finally  reached  the  Rhone.  One  Roman  army  was 
defeated  in  109  b.c.  ;  another  was  defeated  and  surrounded 
in  107  B.C.,  and  forced  to  pass  under  the  yoke.  Still  a  third 
was  defeated  and  its  general  taken  prisoner.  At  length,  near 
Orange,  two  Roman  armies,  which  were  occupying  separate 
camps  because  of  trouble  between  their  generals,  were 
exterminated  one  after  the  other  (105  b.c).  Eighty  thousand 
soldiers  are  said  to  have  perished.  Five  Roman  armies  had 
been  destroyed. 

Rome  now  believed  that  the  barbarians  would  march 
directly  into  Italy,  and  the  alarmed  people,  feeling  they 
could  trust  no  one  but  Marius,  elected  him  consul  (104  b.c). 
Marius  returned  from  Africa  and  led  an  army  to  the  defence 


THE  PERIOD  OF  MARIUS  AND  SULLA. 


193 


of  Gaul.     But  the  Cimbri  and  Teutons,  instead  of  attacking 
Italy,  entered  Spain,  and  stayed  there  two  years. 

During  these  two  years  Marius  remained  at  the  head  of 
the  army ;  contrary  to  law,  the  people  elected  him  consul  for 
three  successive  years.  This  gave  him  time  to  drill  his  men. 
He  made  them  take  long  marches,  carrying  their  arms  and 
the  rest  of  their  equipment ;  he  accustomed  them  to  prepar- 
ing their  own  food ;  he  had  them  learn  swordsmanship  as  it 
was  taught  in  the  gladiatorial  schools,  a  valuable  exercise  in 
close  combat.  The  jave- 
lin used  by  the  legion- 
aries, the  pilum,  was 
impracticable,  because 
the  enemy  might  pick  it 
up  and  use  it  against  the 
Romans.  Marius  sub- 
stituted a  wooden  pin 
for  one  of  the  iron  pins 
which  fastened  the  point 
to  the  handle;  when  the 
pilum  struck  the  enemy 
this  pin  broke  and  ren- 
dered the  weapon  useless 
until  repaired. 

Defeat  of  the  Teutons 
(102  B.C.). — At  last  the 
barbarians  left  Spain. 
The  Cimbri  went  around 
by  the  Danube  to  enter 
Italy  from  the  north. 
The  Teutons  and  Am- 
brones  followed  the 
shore    of    the    Mediter- 

,  T-u     1  MARIUS. 

ranean    to    enter    Italy 

from  the  west.     The  latter  arrived  a  whole  year  before  the 

Cimbri. 


194  THE  ROMAN  PEOPLE, 

The  soldiers  of  Marius  in  their  camp  near  Aquae  Sextiae 
were  surprised  to  find  themselves  face  to  face  with  an  army 
of  tall,  wild-looking  warriors,  who,  with  an.  unfamiliar  war- 
cry,  provoked  them  to  battle. 

Marius  was  unwilling  to  risk  a  battle  until  his  soldiers 
should  become  accustomed  to  the  fearful  aspect  of  the 
barbarians. 

The  Teutons,  failing  to  entice  the  Romans  from  their 
camp,  decided  to  leave  them  and  march  across  the  Alps. 
Marius  followed  them  cautiously  until  near  Aquae  Sextiae 
(Aix)  he  found  himself  in  an  advantageous  position.  Here 
was  fought  a  terrific  battle  which  resulted  in  the  practical 
annihilation  of  the  Teutons  (102  B.C.). 

They  say  that  so  many  bodies  were  left  on  the  field  that  the 
soil  was  enriched  and  yielded  greater  harvests,  and  that  for 
years  the  inhabitants  fenced  in  their  vineyards  with  the  bom  s 
of  the  dead. 

Marius  had  the  arms  and  spoils  of  the  barbarians  collected 
in  a  heap;  then,  robing  himself  in  purple  and  crowning  his 
soldiers  with  laurel,  he  set  fire  to  the  mass. 

Defeart-^of  the  Cimbri  (loi  b.c). — The  Cimbri  had 
crossed  the  Alps  on  the  north  and  came  down  into  Italy 
through  the  valley  of  the  Adige.  The  consul  Catulus  was 
sent  to  stop  them.  Marius,  elected  consul  for  the  fifth  time, 
came  to  join  Catulus,-  and  they  united  their  armies.  The 
Cimbri  awaited  the  arrival  of  the  Teutons  before  making  an 
attack. 

It  is  said  that  they  sent  to  ask  Marius  for  lands  for  themselves 
and  their  brothers.  Marius  asked  what  brothers  they  meant. 
The  envoys  replied,  "  Our  Teuton  brothers."  Then  Marius 
laughed  and  said,  "  Trouble  no  longer  about  your  brothers,  for 
we  have  already  granted  them  land  which  they  will  keep  for- 
ever." The  envoys  were  angry  at  this  and  told  him  that  he 
would  be  punished  first  by  them,  then  by  the  Teutons  when 
they  should  arrive.  "  They  are  already  here,"  replied  Marius, 
"and  you  may  greet  them."  Whereupon  the  Teuton  chiefs 
were  led  out  in  chains. 

A  great  battle  followed  near  Vercellse  in  which  the  Cimbri 


Longitude    12      East  from    14 


ITALY 

Before  the  Social  WaP36 
B.  C.  90 

(After  Beloch)  ' 
I         I  Ager  Romanus 
I        I  Cnlnnien 
I  ,      -I  Allied  States 

SCALE  OF  MILES 
JO 
nvich__]( 


THE  PERIOD   OF  MARIUS  AND  SULLA.  195 

met  a  similar  fate  to  that  which  had  befallen  the  Teutons 
(loi  B.C.).  The  entire  people  was  either  massacred  or  taken 
prisoner. 

Disturbances  in  Rome. — Marius  was  now  regarded  as  the 
savior  of  Italy;  he  received  from  the  people  the  title  of 
third  founder  of  Rome  and  was  elected  consul  for  the  sixth 
time.  He  had  become  master  of  the  government,  together 
with  two  democratic  leaders  [populares)  who  had  aided  him 
and  were  elected  at  the  same  time:  Saturninus,  tribune  of  the 
people,  and  Glaucia,  praetor. 

They  revived  the  reforms  of  Gains  Gracchus  and  proposed 
a  number  of  laws :  first,  a  law  providing  for  the  resumption 
of  the  territory  just  ravaged  by  the  Cimbri,  and  the  distribu- 
tion of  it  to  citizens  and  Italians;  second,  a  law  ordaining 
the  sale  to  each  citizen  of  a  certain  quantity  of  grain  at  a 
very  low  price,  much  less  than  its  worth;  third,  a  law  creat- 
ing colonies  for  veteran  soldiers  who  had  served  under 
Marius,  each  of  whom  received  one  hundred  acres  of  land. 

The  nobles  opposed  these  measures.  One  of  the  tribunes 
declared  himself  opposed  to  them,  but  Saturninus  carried 
them  in  spite  of  his  veto.  There  was  fighting  in  the  assem- 
bly. The  party  supporting  the  senate  broke  the  voting-urns, 
but  the  veterans  of  Marius  drove  them  from  the  assembly  and 
the  laws  were  passed.  It  was  decided  that  the  magistrates 
and  senators  must  swear  allegiance  to  these  laws  within  five 
days.  Marius  promised  the  senate  that  he  would  not  swear, 
but  was  the  first  to  take  the  oath  the  next  day.  The  senate 
followed  his  example,  with  the  exception  of  Metellus,  the 
conqueror  of  Jugurtha,  who  refused  to  take  the  oath  and 
was  condemned  to  exile. 

Saturninus  and  Glaucia  were  now  masters  of  Rome;  they 
bent  the  assembly  to  their  will  by  the  use  of  armed  force. 
They  had  a  candidate  for  office  struck  down  in  the  open 
street  because  he  did  not  please  them. 

The  people  were  indignant  and  turned  against  them. 
The  senate  charged  Marius  with  the  work  of  putting  them 


196  THE  ROMAN  PEOPLE. 

down.  Marius,  not  daring  to  refuse,  attacked  them. 
Saturninus  and  Glaucia  established  themselves  on  the 
Capitoline  hill,  but  the  water-conduits  were  cut  and  they 
had  to  surrender.  Glaucia  was  killed.  Saturninus  had  been 
shut  up  in  the  senate  chamber;  the  mob  climbed  on  the 
roof  and,  pulling  off  the  tiles,  stoned  him  to  death.  His 
head  was  borne  off  on  the  point  of  a  pike  (100  b.c). 

The  laws  were  repealed,  Metellus  recalled  from  exile,  and 
the  senate  once  more  resumed  control. 
.  The  Revolt  of  the  Italians. — The  people  living  in  and 
around  Rome  were  still  the  only  Roman  citizens.  Rome  had 
not  created  a  new  tribe  since  241  b.c.  The  Italians  were  still 
allies,  that  is  to  say,  subjects  obliged  to  fight  under  Roman 
command.  For  two  centuries  they  had  served  in  Roman 
armies  at  their  own  expense,  unable  to  become  superior 
officers,  to  be  elected  magistrates,  or  even  to  vote  in  the 
assemblies;  they  were  still  subject  to  Roman  magistrates, 
who  could  have  them  beaten  or  executed  without  a  trial. 
They  shared  the  dangers  and  expenses  but  none  of  the 
honors  or  powers.  Like  the  plebeians  of  former  times,  they 
began  to  claim  equality  with  the  Romans. 

Gains  Gracchus  had  attempted  to  gain  citizenship  for 
them;  after  his  fall  his  party  still  proposed  reforms  of  this 
kind.  The  senatorial  party,  however,  always  opposed  them, 
even  carrying  a  law  forbidding  allies  to  settle  in  Rome,  and 
finally  ordering  an  investigation  to  discover  any  that  might 
be  trying  to  pass  for  citizens  (95  b.c). 

At  the  same  time  the  senators  and  knights  were  disputing 
over  the  right  to  furnish  judges  for  the  criminal  courts. 
Drusus,  a  young  tribune  supported  by  the  senate,  presented 
a  set  of  laws  which  should  satisfy  all  parties.  He  also  con- 
sulted with  the  allies  and  proposed  a  law  declaring  them 
Roman  citizens. 

We  are  told  that  a  troop  of  ten  thousand  allies  (Marsi)  armed 
with  hidden  weapons  marched  on  Rome  by  a  circuitous  route. 
They  were  met  by  Domitius,  a  former  consul,  who  asked  their 


THE  PERIOD   OF  MARIUS  AND  SULLA.  197 

leader  where  they  were  going.  "  We  are  going  to  Rome, 
whither  the  tribune  has  summoned  us,"  was  the  reply.  Domi- 
tius  told  them  that  the  senate  had  decided  to  grant  them  the 
right  of  citizenship,  and  persuaded  them  to  return  to  their  own 
country. 

The  consul  attempted  to  oppose  the  law,  but  it  was 
passed.  Drusus  died  suddenly;  it  was  thought  that  he  was 
assassinated.  The  senate  declared  his  laws  void  and  began 
to  proceed  against  the  allies  for  having  supported  him. 

The  allies  were  armed,  many  of  them  having  just  fought 
under  Marius.  As  the  Romans  refused  them  citizenship, 
they  resolved  to  win  it  by  force.  This  was  the  beginning  of 
the  Social  War,  so  called  because  it  was  fought  between 
Rome  and  her  socii  or  allies. 

The  rebels  were  the  Apennine  mountaineers,  brave  and 
warlike,  and  simple  in  their  mode  of  life;  in  the  south  the 
Samnites,  who  had  never  become  reconciled  to  Rome;  in 
the  north  the  Marsi,  whose  well-known  courage  had  given 
rise  to  the  proverb:  "  Who  can  triumph  over  the  Marsi  or 
without  the  Marsi  .?  " 

They  made  their  plans  together,  exchanging  hostages  in 
token  of  mutual  obligation.  A  Roman  proconsul,  learning 
that  the  city  of  Asculum  had  given  hostages  to  another  city, 
went  to  Asculum  on  a  public  feast-day,  and  threatened  the 
assembled  people;  the  inhabitants  killed  him,  together  with 
all  the  Roman  citizens  in  the  town.  Immediately  after  this 
the  allies  sent  to  Rome  to  demand  the  rights  of  citizenship. 
The  senate  refused  and  passed  a  law  providing  for  trial  of 
the  Romans  who  were  accused  of  inciting  the  revolt. 

The  allies  then  severed  their  connection  with  Rome,  and 
organized  an  independent  government  on  the  Roman  model : 
two  consuls,  two  praetors,  and  a  senate  of  five  hundred 
members.  They  chose  for  their  capital  the  city  of  Corfinium 
and  named  it  Italia.  The  Samnites  issued  a  coinage, 
inscribed  in  the  Oscan  tongue.  One  of  these  pieces  repre- 
sented a  bull,  the  Samnite  emblem,  mangling  a  wolf,  the 
emblem  of  Rome. 


198  THE  ROMAIC  PEOPLE. 

Rome  was  greatly  disturbed.  Sentinels  were  posted  at  the 
gates  and  on  the  city  wall,  and  all  the  citizens  wore  their 
war-cloaks.  Rome  was  supported  by  all  the  provinces  and 
a  part  of  Italy,  the  Greeks  in  the  south  and  the  Umbrians 
and  Etruscans  in  the  north. 

The  war  broke  out  in  two  quarters;  in  each  a  Roman 
consul  held  chief  command,  assisted  by  five  legates  or  Roman 
praetors;  opposing  him  was  an  Italian  consul,  with  six 
praetors.  Each  of  these  chiefs  had  an  army.  In  the  north 
the  commander-in-chief,  a  Marsian  named  Pompaedius  Silo, 
held  the  mountains  against  the  forces  of  Rome.  In  the 
south  the  commander-in-chief,  a  Samnite  named  Papius 
Mutilus,  attacked  Campania. 

For  the  first  year  (90  b.c.)  the  allies  had  the  upper  hand. 
They  repulsed  the  Romans  in  the  north,  while  the  Samnites 
conquered  Campania  in  the  south.  Rome  had  not  enough 
soldiers  left  to  defend  Latium,  and,  contrary  to  all  custom, 
enlisted  freedmen  as  legionaries. 

Right  of  Citizenship  Extended  to  the  Italians. — The 
Etruscans  and  Umbrians,  the  northern  allies,  had  so  far 
remained  faithful  to  Rome;  they  now  began  to  show  signs 
of  agitation.  Reports  were  heard  of  insurrection  in  Spain, 
Gaul,  and  Asia.  The  Romans  were  alarmed  and  made  up 
their  minds  to  give  in. 

A  law  was  passed  granting  the  right  of  citizenship  to  all 
Rome's  allies  in  Italy  who  had  not  revolted,  on  condition 
that  they  should  adopt  the  Roman  laws  (90  b.c). 

Rome  continued  the  war  with  her  rebellious  allies  until 
she  conquered  them.  Her  armies  forced  their  way  into  the 
mountains,  defeated  the  Marsi,  and  besieged  Asculum. 

The  consul  took  Asculum,  executed  the  chief  inhabitants, 
and  drove  the  others  naked  from  the  town.  Pompaedius 
Silo  was  killed  in  battle.  All  the  rebels  surrendered,  with 
the  exception  of  one  Samnite  army  which  continued  the  war 
in  the  mountains. 

The  Romans  then  passed  a  law  extending  the  freedom  of 


THE  PERIOD  OF  MARIUS  AND  SULLA.  199 

i     -, 
the  city  to  all  Italians  (89  b.c. ).     They  granted  after  victory 
what  they  had  refused  before.     But  this  unnecessary  war  had 
destroyed  the  flower  of  the  Roman  army  and  ended  in  the    { 
destruction  of  the  free  population  of  Italy.  / 

Marius  had  commanded  an  army  in  this  war,  but,  being 
old  and  sick,  he  distinguished  himself  only  by  his  lack  of 
energy.  He  ceased  to  be  regarded  as  the  greatest  general  in 
Rome. 

*  Results  of  the  Social  War. — This  war  had  cost  Rome 
and  Italy  probably  three  hundred  thousand  lives.  It  had 
taught  Rome  that  her  own  municipal  government  was 
unfitted  to  administer  the  whole  peninsula,  and  that  those 
who  bore  the  burdens  of  the  staie  must  share  in  its  citizen- 
ship and  its  honors,  as  well  as  its  obligations.  But  the 
relief  granted  to  the  Italians  was  more  apparent  than  real. 
Their  citizenship  was  of  no  political  advantage  to  them 
unless  they  went  to  Rome  to  vote.  This  of  course  the  vast 
majority  of  them  could  not  do.  It  was  a  great  thing,  how- 
ever, for  the  mother  city  to  have  once  conceded  the  principle 
that  others  than  residents  in  or  near  Rome  must  be  taken 
into  account,  and  that  a  mere  local  city  government  could 
not  control  a  nation.  Such  an  idea  as  that  of  a  representa- 
tive system  had  not  yet  dawned  upon  the  world.  It  might 
have  prevented  many  of  the  troubles  which  speedily  followed. 
For  the  corrupt  senatorial  party  was  still  bound  to  rule  or 
ruin.  It  succeeded  only  in  ruining,  as  we  shall  presently 
see.  '  ^ 

The  incorporation  of  the  Italians  raised  the  registry  of     / 
citizens  from  394,336  to  900,000. 

Sulla. — Marius  was  succeeded  by  Sulla,  who  belonged  to 
the  famous  patrician  family  of  the  Cornelii,  though  of  a 
decayed  branch.  His  youth  was  passed  in  the  company  of 
comedians.  He  was  a  violent  man,  with  a  red  face  covered 
with  white  spots,  bright  eyes,  and  a  terrible  expression  when 
roused  to  anger. 

He  first  distinguished  himself  as  quaestor  with  Marius  in 


200 


THE  ROMAN  PEOPLE. 


the  Numidian  war;  he  had  a  seal  made  representing  himself 
in  the  act  of  receiving  the  captive  Jugurtha.  He  was  one 
of  the  chief  officers  in  the  army  that  defeated  the  Cimbri. 
Later  he  was  sent  to  Cappadocia  as  pro- 
praetor, whence  he  returned  with  a  fortune 
and  was  so  lucky  as  to  escape  the  charge 
of  peculation. 

In  the  Social  War  he  commanded  the 
army  which  won  Campania  back  from  the 
Samnites,  and  earned  the  reputation  of  a 
great  general.  He  tried  to  win  the  hearts 
of  his  soldiers,  and  he  succeeded  by 
methods  unknown  to  the  Roman  generals 
of  antiquity;  he  let  his  men  do  what  they 
pleased. 

SULLA.  After  the  war  Sulla  was  elected  consul 

and    given    command    of  the    war    against    Mithridates    in 
Asia. 

Mithridates. — On  the  shores  of  the  Black  Sea  (Euxine 
Sea)  a  new  state  had  grown  up,  the  kingdom  of  Pontus. 
Its  kings  claimed  descent  from  Persian  princes  of  the  family 
of  Darius,  although  their  subjects  were  barbarians.  They 
still  worshipped  the  Persian  god,  but  their  soldiers  and 
ministers  were  Greeks,  and  Greek  was  the  language  of  the 
court.  Established  first  on  the  mountains,  they  had 
descended  to  the  coast  and  settled  in  a  Greek  city,  Sinope. 
They  really  became  half  Greek. 

One  of  these  kings,  Mithridates,  was  Rome's  last  adversary 
in  the  East.  He  lost  his  father  in  his  early  youth,  and  his 
mother,  a  Greek  princess  of  Syria,  and  his  tutors,  who 
governed  in  his  name,  tried  to  put  an  end  to  him.  He 
perceived  their  intention,  and,  at  the  age  of  fourteen,  with- 
drew into  the  mountains. 

At  the  age  of  twenty  he  returned  to  Sinope,  assumed  the 
royal  power  and  imprisoned  his  mother.  His  first  object 
was  to  increase  his  kingdom.      Greek  officers  came  to  drill 


THE  PERIOD  OF  MARIUS  AND  SULLA,  201 

his  soldiers  in  the  Greek  fashion,  and  formed  a  phalanx  of 
six  thousand  men. 

At  this  time  the  Crimean  peninsula  on  the  opposite  coast 
of  the  Black  Sea  was  occupied  by  Greek  cities;  these  cities 
had  formerly  won  wealth  by  trr.ding  in  grain,  but  were  long 
since  impoverished  by  the  tribute  exacted  by  their  neighbors, 
the  barbaric  Scythians.  These  Greeks  asked  help  of  Mithri- 
dates,  who  sent  an  expedition  which  repulsed  the  bar- 
barians, and  Mithridates  became  king  of  the  Greek  countries 
on  the  north  of  the  Black  Sea. 


COIN    OF    MnHRIDATES. 


Mithridates  next  conquered  Colchis,  which  consisted  of  a 
fertile  plain  and  wooded  mountains,  lying  at  the  foot  of  the 
Caucasus,  at  the  extremity  of  the  Black  Sea;  then  Lesser 
Armenia,  a  region  of  steep  mountains,  commanding  the 
Black  Sea  on  the  southeast.  His  kingdom  was  now  com- 
posed of  three  separate  bits  of  territory  around  the  Black 
Sea,  unable  to  communicate  except  by  sea.  Crimea  fur- 
nished him  grain,  Colchis  wood,  and  tar  for  his  ships. 

The  Sarmatae  and  Bastarnae,  the  savage  peoples  occupying 
the  great  plains  between  the  Don  and  the  Danube,  were  his 
allies  and  furnished  him  great  strong  soldiers. 

Revolt  of  Asia. — The  old  Hellenic  kingdom  of  Pergamum 
belonged  to  Rome,  the  last  king  having  bequeathed  it  to  the 
Roman  people  in  133  b.c.  ;  it  had  become  the  province 
known  as  Asia  (see  page  142).  It  was  a  rich  country,  and 
the  Romans  drained  all  its  resources.     They  exacted  from 


202  THE  ROMAN  PEOPLE. 

the  inhabitants  a  tenth  part  of  their  harvest,  control  of  their 
pasture-lands,  and  customs  duties.  The  publicans  who 
bought  the  right  to  collect  the  customs  exacted  more  than 
their  due,  and  if  a  man  refused  to  pay,  sold  him  into  slavery. 
Often  a  city  was  obliged  to  borrow  money  at  an  exorbitant 
rate  of  interest  (sometimes  more  than  24  per  cent)  in  order 
to  pay  its  taxes;  her  creditors  were  Roman  knights  who 
might  imprison  or  torture  the  officials  of  the  city.  The 
proconsul  confiscated  inheritances,  sold  judgments,  imposed 
enormous  fines,  and  shared  with  the  publicans  in  pillaging 
the  province.  Rutilius,  a  quaestor,  undertook  to  defend  the 
inhabitants.  Returning  to  Rome  the  publicans  accused 
him,  and  the  court,  composed  of  knights  who  were  in  league 
with  the  publicans,  condemned  him  to  exile.  There  were, 
it  was  said,  one  hundred  thousand  Italians  in  the  province, 
employed  by  the  bankers,  publicans,  merchants,  usurers, 
and  slave-dealers. 

The  rest  of  Asia  Minor  was  divided  between  petty  kings 
ruling  over  small  barbaric  peoples,  and  the  Greek  coast 
cities.  Mithridates  spent  a  number  of  years  enlarging  his 
kingdom  by  subjugating  these  peoples.  The  senate  ordered 
him  to  surrender  his  conquests,  and  he  stopped  for  a  time, 
but  took  advantage  of  the  Social  War  to  make  a  sudden 
attack  on  these  weak  neighbors. 

He   dispersed    the    armies  of   the  kings.     Aquilius,    the 

senate's  onvoy,  a  man  hated  for  his  avarice,  had  attacked  his 

territory,  but  was  defeated  and  took  refuge  in  the  Greek  city 

of  Mitylene,  whose  inhabitants  gave  him  up.      Mithridates 

sent   him   from  one  city  to   another,    bound  on  a  donkey, 

beaten  all  the  while  with  rods  and  calling  his  name  aloud. 

He  then  had  him  executed. 

A  story  is  told  of  molten  gold  being  poured  down  his  throat 
that  he  might  be  "  satiated  with  it." 

The  victorious  Mithridates  came  to  an  agreement  with  the 
Greeks  in  Asia,  who  were  exasperated  against  the  publicans. 
All    at   once  they  rose   and  massacred  all   Latin-speaking 


THE  PERIOD  OF  MARIUS  AND  SULLA.  203 

persons  (who,  we  are  told,  were  eighty  thousand  in  number); 
they  left  their  bodies  unburied  and  confiscated  their  goods. 

Mithridates  was  now  master  of  the  province.  He  abolished 
all  taxes  for  five  years  and  established  himself  in  Pergamum. 

The  Athenians,  who  had  hitherto  been  allies  of  Rome, 
joined  Mithridates.  Archelaos,  commander  of  the  fleet  of 
Mithridates,  cruised  among  the  islands  of  the  ^gean  Sea; 
attacking  Delos,  a  trading  port  of  Italian  merchants,  he  took 
possession  of  it,  massacred  the  men  (twenty  thousand,  it  is 
said),  and  sold  the  women  and  children. 

War  in  Rome. — Sulla  was  given  charge  of  the  war  against 
Mithridates.  His  army  was  already  assembled  in  Campania. 
Marius  tried  to  take  the  command  from  him.  At  this  time 
Sulpicius,  the  tribune,  controlled  the  assembly  by  force;  he 
was  supported  by  a  band  of  armed  men  and  six  hundred 
knights,  whom  he  called  his  anti-senate,  and  he  secured  the 
passage  of  the  laws  he  wanted.  Marius  came  to  an  under- 
standing with  him,  and  a  law  was  passed  transferring  com- 
mand of  the  war  from  Sulla  to  Marius,  although  the  latter 
was  not  a  magistrate.  Sulla  was  obliged  to  leave  Rome,  and 
his  son-in-law  was  killed  in  a  riot. 

The  soldiers  wanted  Sulla  as  their  gt:nera],  however,  and 
they  killed  two  officers  who  were  sent  to  them  by  Marius. 
Six  legions  then  marched  on  Rome  and  entered  the  city 
armed.  This  was  the  first  time  that  an  army  broke  the 
hallowed  rule  against  entering  the  city.  It  marks  the 
beginning  of  the  time  when  the  soldiers  of  Rome  were  to 
become  her  masters  instead  of  her  servants.  In  this  intru- 
sion was  the  germ  of  the  empire  afid  also  of  its  ruin. 
Militarism  was  to  grow  more  and  more  dominant  until  the 
end. 

The  followers  of  Marius  attempted  to  defend  themselves 
by  throwing  down  stones  and  tiles  from  the  roofs.  Sulla 
ordered    the    houses   set   on    fire,    and  the    combat   ceased 

(87   B.C.). 

The  senate  declared  Marius  and  some  others  to  be  public 


204  THE  ROMAN  PEOPLE. 

enemies,   and   Sulpicius  was  killed.      Marius  succeeded  in 
escaping  to  Africa,  after  the  many  adventures  related  below: 

Marius  fled  to  Ostia  and  there  embarked  with  his  servants. 
Stormy  weather  obliged  them  to  land  again  on  the  coast  of 
Latium  ;  they  wandered  about  without  food,  fearing  capture  at 
every  moment.  In  the  evening  they  ran  across  some  cow- 
herds who  recognized  Marius  and  warned  him  that  they  had 
just  seen  horsemen  going  by  in  pursuit  of  him  ;  they  could  not, 
however,  give  him  anything  to  eat.  Marius  and  his  men  hid 
in  a  wood  and  there  spent  the  night. 

The  next  day  they  set  out  to  walk  along  the  shore.  When 
near  Minturnae,  they  saw  horsemen  approaching  and  threw 
themselves  into  the  sea ;  they  succeeded  in  reaching  two  boats 
which  were  near  by  and  got  aboard  of  them.  Marius  was  sup- 
ported by  two  slaves,  for  he  was  too  fat  and  helpless  to  move. 
The  horsemen  cried  to  the  boatmen  to  come  ashore  or  else 
throw  Marius  into  the  sea.  The  sailors  were  frightened  and 
landed  near  a  swamp,  where  they  put  Marius  ashore,  promising 
to  return  for  him  when  he  should  be  rested ;  then  they  went 
away. 

Marius,  alone  and  discouraged,  started  to  cross  the  swamp, 
which  was  covered  with  mud-holes.  He  reached  a  small  hut, 
where  an  old  man  took  pity  on  him  and  offered  to  conceal  him 
in  a  safe  place  ;  he  led  him  to  a  hollow  near  the  river  and  cov- 
ered him  up  with  roses.  The  horsemen  arrived  and  told  the 
old  man  that  they  were  seeking  an  enemy  of  the  Roman  people. 
Marius  heard  them  and  threw  off  his  clothes  that  he  might  hide 
himself  still  further  in  the  water.  This  movement  disclosed 
his  presence. 

Naked  and  covered  with  mud  he  was  taken  to  Minturnae  and 
handed  over  to  the  magistrates  of  the  city,  who  deliberated 
long  over  his  case.  They  finally  resolved  to  kill  him,  but  none 
of  the  inhabitants  were  willing  to  undertake  the  work.  A  Cim- 
brian  agreed  to  do  it.  Sword  in  hand  he  entered  the  prisoner's 
chamber.  Out  of  the  darkness  the  Cimbrian  heard  a  voice  cry: 
'•Wretch,  darest  thou  kill  Caius  Marius  }  "  He  fled  in  a  panic, 
dropping  his  sword  and  crying,   "  I  cannot  kill  Caius  Marius." 

The  people  of  Minturnae  decided  to  spare  Marius;  they  led 
him  to  the  shore  and  put  him  on  a  ship. 

Marius  escaped  capture  once  more  in  Sicily  and  landed  at 
Carthage.  The  governor  of  Africa  sent  a  lictor  to  forbid  his 
landing  in  the  province.  For  a  moment  he  stood  silent.  The 
lictor  asked  what  word  he  should  carry  back  to  the  governor. 
"  Tell  him,"  he  said,  "that  you  have  seen  Marius,  sitting  among 
the  ruins  of  Carthage." 

First  War  against  Mithridates. — Sulla  now  turned  his 
attention  towards  Greece.     He  landed  in  Epirus  with  thirty 


THE  PERIOD   OF  MARIUS  AND  SULLA.  205 

thousand  legionaries  and  a  small  number  of  horsemen. 
Mithridates,  with  his  army,  had  come  from  Asia  through 
Thrace  and  Macedonia,  and  was  occupying  Bceotia.  At 
Athens  the  anti-Roman  party  had  chosen  as  their  leader  a 
professor  of  oratory,  Aristion,  executed  the  supporters  of 
Rome,  and  admitted  a  garrison  sent  by  Mithridates  at  their 
request. 

Sulla  besieged  Athens  and  the  Piraeus  at  once  (87  b.c).  He 
blockaded  Athens  and  tried  to  storm  the  Piraeus,  which  was 
guarded  by  a  stone  wall  fifty-six  feet  high  and  sixteen  feet 
thick,  surrounding  both  the  port  and  the  hill.  He  procured 
money  by  forcing  the  loan  of  the  treasure  in  the  Greek 
temples,  and  wood  by  cutting  down  the  famous  trees  about 
Athens,  the  grove  of  Lycaeus,  and  the  sacred  plane-trees  of 
the  Academia.  He  had  a  mound  of  earth  constructed,  and 
covered  with  stones,  on  which  to  mount  his  engines  and 
wooden  towers. 

They  fought  for  six  months  until  the  winter  came  on,  and 
the  rains  prevented  Sulla  from  storming  the  city.  When  the 
winter  was  over  he  resumed  the  attack,  and  finally  succeeded 
in  breaking  down  a  part  of  the  wall  with  a  small  mine  made 
of  oakum,  sulphur,  and  pitch.  He  forced  an  entrance 
through  the  breach,  but  was  stopped  by  the  besieged,  and 
the  next  morning  the  Romans  found  an  improvised  wall 
facing  them.  Sulla  turned  his  attention  once  more  to 
Athens. 

The  Athenians,  who  had  been  blockaded  for  a  year,  were 
out  of  provisions;  they  had  eaten  their  pack-animals,  and 
were  living  on  shoes  and  leather  bottles,  roots,  and  the 
bodies  of  the  dead. 

Sulla  learned  through  his  spies  that  some  Athenians  had 
been  heard  to  complain  that  one  side  of  the  wall  was  poorly 
guarded.  He  surprised  that  side  and  broke  down  a  bit  of 
it,  and  through  this  breach,  at  midnight,  his  army  entered. 
Sulla  desired  vengeance  on  the  Athenians  because  they  had 
jeered  from  the  top  of  the  wall  at  him  and  his  wife  (calling 


2o6  THE  ROMAN  PEOPLE, 

him  a  floured  mulberry).  He  scattered  his  soldiers  through 
the  city  with  orders  to  kill  every  one  they  saw.  Half  the 
inhabitants  were  massacred,  so  that  blood  is  said  to  have 
flowed  from  the  public  square  to  the  outskirts  of  the  city, 

Sulla  now  returned  to  the  Piraeus,  stormed  it  and  burned 
the  arsenal.  Then  he  marched  into  Boeotia  and  pitched  his 
camp  face  to  face  with  the  army  of  Mi thri dates,  which, 
though  three  times  his  number,  was  composed  of  Asiatics 
and  fifteen  thousand  slaves  who  had  been  freed  to  make  up 
a  phalanx.  He  attacked  them  suddenly  near  Chasronea  and 
routed  them.  The  fugitives  ran  towards  their  camp;  the 
Romans  followed  and  slew  them.  Sulla  declared  his  loss  to 
be  only  fourteen  men,  while  he  had  killed  or  taken  prisoner 
fifty  thousand  of  the  enemy  (86  b.c). 

Another  army  of  Mithridates,  which  had  been  sent  by  sea, 
joined  the  remnant  of  the  defeated  army,  entered  Boeotia  and 
camped  in  the  plain  of  Orchomenus,  near  a  swamp.  This 
army  having  an  excellent  body  of  cavalry,  Sulla  had  deep 
ditches  dug  to  impede  its  movements.  The  enemy's  cavalry 
attacked  the  Romans  at  work,  and  they  were  on  the  point  of 
flight  when  Sulla,  jumping  from  his  horse,  ran  to  them  and 
cried,  "When  you  are  asked  where  you  deserted  your 
general  you  may  say  at  Orchomenus."  The  Romans  pulled 
themselves  together  and  drove  the  enemy  back  to  their 
camp,  almost  to  the  swamp. 

The  next  day  they  dug  a  trench  so  as  to  shut  in  the  enemy, 
and  then  attacked  them.  The  Asiatics  were  caught  between 
the  Romans  and  the  swamp  and  were  either  killed  or 
drowned. 

Sulla  was  now  master  of  all  Greece.  Having  no  fleet  with 
which  to  cross  into  Asia,  he  passed  the  winter  in  Thessaly. 

Supremacy  of  Marius  at  Rome. — Sulla  had  taken  care 
to  secure  the  election  of  his  own  partisans  before  he  left 
Rome.  The  two  consuls  did  not  agree,  however.  One  of 
them,  Cinna,  joined  the  supporters  of  Marius;  driven  from 
Rome  by  his  colleague,  he  placed  himself  at  the  head  of  the 


THE  PERIOD  OF  MARIUS  AND  SULLA.  207 

army  which  was  gathered  in  Campania,  recalled  Marius  from 
Africa  and  together  they  marched  on  Rome.  After  a  battle 
they  entered  the  city  and  massacred  the  leading  senators. 
Sulla  was  declared  a  public  enemy  and  Marius  elected  con- 
sul (87  B.C.). 

Marius  died  the  next  year,  leaving  Cinna  master  of  Rome. 
Cinna  secured  the  passage  of  a  law  giving  command  of  the 
war  against  Mithridates  to  a  man  of  his  own  party,  the 
consul  Valerius  Flaccus. 

Flaccus  left  Italy  with  an  army,  and  crossing  Macedonia 
and  Thrace  arrived  in  Asia.  Sulla  was  now  threatened  by  a 
Roman  army  and  by  Mithridates  at  the  same  time.  He 
accepted  the  proposals  made  by  Mithridates,  and  went  to 
Asia  to  negotiate  with  him.  They  concluded  a  peace  by 
which  Mithridates  renounced  Greece,  the  province  of  Asia, 
and  the  kingdoms  he  had  conquered;  he  also  promised  to 
pay  two  thousand  talents  and  to  furnish  seventy  ships  fully 
equipped  and  provisioned  (84  b.c). 

The  preceding  winter  Flaccus  had  passed  at  Byzantium, 
leaving  his  army  to  camp  outside  the  walls.  The  soldiers 
complained  of  cold,  forced  their  way  into  the  city,  massacred 
the  inhabitants,  and  took  possession  of  their  houses.  Flaccus 
had  a  disagreement  with  Fimbria,  his  lieutenant,  and  dis- 
missed him.  Fimbria  went  to  the  camp,  addressed  the 
soldiers  and  assumed  command.  Flaccus  fled,  but  was 
captured  and  killed.'     Fimbria  marched  against  Mithridates. 

Sulla  brought  his  army  near  Fimbria's  camp  and  set  his 
men  to  digging  ditches.  Numbers  of  Fimbria's  men  came 
out  in  their  tunics  to  help  in  the  work.  Fimbria  called  his 
soldiers  together  and  addressed  them,  trying  to  make  them 
swear  to  obey  his  orders.  He  began  to  call  the  roll,  but 
the  first  officer  called  on  refused  to  take  the  oath.  The 
army  then  joined  Sulla. 

Fimbria  was  overcome  by  this  desertion  and  committed 
suicide.  Sulla,  who  was  now  sole  commander  of  the  Roman 
armies,  spent  the  winter  in  the  province  of  Asia,  quartering 


2o8  THE  ROMAN  PEOPLE, 

his  soldiers  on  the  inhabitants.  The  householder  had  to 
furnish  each  legionary  with  six  drachmae  a  day  and  feed  all  the 
guests  he  might  invite  to  the  house.  Sulla  called  the 
notables  of  the  province  together  and  announced  through 
them  his  thanks  to  the  province,  at  the  same  time  demand- 
ing the  payment  of  twenty  thousand  talents.  To  raise  this 
sum  the  cities  had  to  mortgage  their  theatres,  gymnasiums, 
and  harbors.      Asia  was  ruined. 

SuUa^s  Return  to  Rome. — Sulla,  having  won  the  hearts 
of  his  soldiers  by  permitting  them  to  pillage  Asia,  brought 
them  back  to  Rome.  He  had  with  him  forty  thousand  men, 
while  against  him  were  the  Roman  government  and  the 
Italians;  but  his  soldiers  were  so  devoted  to  him  that  they 
even  offered  him  their  money.  He  landed  at  Brundisium, 
crossed  Italy,  and  entered  Campania  (fi'^  b.c). 

His  enemies  raised  six  armies  with  which  to  meet  him, 
but  the  soldiers  were  not  willing  to  fight  against  Sulla. 
Cinna's  army  had  already  killed  its  general  for  trying  to  force 
them  into  it  (84  b.c).  The  army  of  Norbanus  was  defeated 
near  Capua,  this  being  the  first  time  that  two  Roman  armies 
had  fought  against  one  another. 

Sulla  next  encountered  the  army  of  the  consul  Scipio. 
He  offered  to  make  terms;  while  the  discussion  was  going 
on  his  soldiers  talked  with  those  of  Scipio  and  induced  them 
to  join  Sulla.  Some  days  later  Sulla  marched  on  Scipio's 
camp  and  was  joined  by  the  whole  army;  Scipio,  left  alone, 
was  taken  prisoner;  Sulla  let  him  go. 

In  the  following  spring  an  army  commanded  by  the  son 
of  Marius  was  put  to  flight  near  Sacriportus;  the  young 
Marius  fled  and  shut  himself  up  in  Praeneste. 

The  partisans  of  Marius  left  Rome  after  again  massacring 
a  number  of  the  senators.     Sulla  entered  the  city  unmolested. 

There  was  still  another  Roman  army  in  Etruria  under  the 
consul  Carbo;  advancing  to  meet  Sulla,  it  resisted  him  for 
some  time,  but  broke  up  on  being  attacked  by  an  army 
which  Metellus  was  bringing  from  the  north. 


THE  PERIOD   OF  MARIUS  AND  SULLA.  209 

Then  Pontius  Telesinus,  with  an  army  of  Samnites, 
Rome's  former  enemies,  and  collecting  on  his  way  the  frag- 
ments of  the  defeated  armies,  attempted  to  blockade 
Praeneste;  finding  himself  surrounded,  he  marched  rapidly 
on  Rome. 

It  was  said  that  he  wished  to  destroy  Rome.  "  Let  us  de- 
stroy," he  said,  "these  wolves  who  devour  the  liberty  of  Italy. 
We  must  cut  down  the  forest  in  which  they  lurk." 

The  Samnites  arrived  before  the  city  and  camped  near  the 
Colline  Gate.  Early  in  the  day  they  repulsed  the  young 
nobles  who  had  come  out  of  the  city  on  horseback.  In  the 
afternoon  Sulla  arrived,  and  without  waiting  to  rest  his 
army,  drew  it  up  in  line  of  battle  and  attacked  the  Samnites. 
This  was  the  most  savage  battle  of  the  whole  war.  Sulla's 
left  wing  was  driven  back  to  the  foot  of  the  wall.  Night 
ended  the  fighting.  The  other  wing  had  meanwhile  put  the 
enemy  to  rout.  The  Samnite  resistance  was  broken ;  they 
tried  to  withdraw,  and  were  captured  while  in  retreat.  Sulla 
had  them  all  massacred  on  the  Campus  Martius,  even  those 
who  had  surrendered. 

The  defenders  of  Praeneste,  which  had  been  blockaded  for 
eight  months,  were  now  without  food.  Four  attempts  had 
been  made  to  raise  the  blockade.  The  besieging  party 
finally  showed  them  the  heads  of  the  conquered  chiefs,  and 
after  the  defeat  of  the  Samnites  they  surrendered.  Marius 
the  younger  killed  himself.  Sulla  had  the  senators  and 
officers  executed,  together  with  all  the  Samnites  and  men  of 
Praeneste. 

Proscriptions. — Sulla  called  together  the  assembly  of  the 
people  at  Rome,  and  declared  his  intention  of  restoring  the 
constitution  and  punishing  all  those  who  had  fought  against 
him.     His  soldiers  began  a  general  massacre. 

After  some  days  of  this  one  of  his  supporters  suggested 
that  Sulla  should  designate  those  whom  he  wished  to  see  put 
to  death,  in  order  to  regulate  the  massacre  somewhat.  Sulla 
accordingly  published  a  list  of  names.     Every  man  on  the 


210  THE  ROMAN  PEOPLE. 

list  was  abandoned  to  the  slayers  and  his  goods  confiscated. 
Whosoever  delivered  him  up  or  disclosed  his  whereabouts 
was  entitled  to  a  share,  while  any  man  who  helped  to  con- 
ceal him  ran  the  risk  of  punishment.  This  list  was  not  final; 
Sulla  soon  published  a  second,  then  a  third. 

Soldiers  went  in  all  directions  in  search  of  the  proscribed, 
bringing  their  heads  to  Sulla's  house,  then  exposing  them 
near  the  Forum.  Among  those  proscribed  were  the  leaders 
of  the  populares,  both  senators  and  knights,  personal  enemies 
of  Sulla,  and  even  some  of  his  favorites;  men  of  wealth  were 
sacrificed  for  their  fortunes. 

A  wealthy  Roman,  a  non-partisan,  went  to  the  public  square  to 
read  the  list  of  the  proscribed.  Finding  his  own«name  he  cried  : 
*'  Woe  is  me  !  It  is  my  Alban  villa  that  has  ruined  me."  He 
was  immediately  killed. 

Ninety  senators  and  twenty-six  hundred  knights  who  had 
supported  Marius  were  killed.  A  praetor,  a  relation  of  Marius, 
was  led  to  the  tomb  of  Catulus,  whose  death  was  to  be  avenged. 
There  he  was  fearfully  mutilated  and  tortured  to  death. 

Sulla  had  the  houses  and  goods  of  the  proscribed  sold  at 
auction.  They  brought  him  three  hundred  and  fifty  million 
sesterces  (175,000,00  dollars).  His  favorites  were  enabled 
to  purchase  at  a  low  price,  and  made  money  for  themselves. 

Cornelian  Laws. — Sulla  was  absolute  master  of  Rome. 
He  had  himself  elected  consul,  then  secured  a  new  power 
and  a  new  title:  *'  dictator  charged  with  the  drafting  of  laws 
and  organization  of  the  state  "  (82  b.c).  For  two  years  he 
promulgated  laws  without  limit  of  time.  They  were  called 
by  his  name,  the  Cornelian  ^  laws. 

Sulla  wished  to  reward  his  veterans  by  giving  them  land. 
He  had  just  practically  destroyed  two  Italian  peoples  who 
had  assisted  his  adversaries,  the  Samnites  and  Etruscans;  he 
took  away  their  lands  and  used  them  to  create  military 
colonies  peopled  by  his  veterans.  He  thus  settled  one 
hundred  and  twenty  thousand  of  these  veterans.     Etruria 

*  His  full  name  was  Lucius  Cornelius  Sulla. 


THB  PERIOD  OF  MARIVS  AND  SULLA.  211 

became  a  Latin  country  and  the  Etruscan  language  ceased 
to  be  spoken. 

Sulla  freed  all  slaves  belonging  to  the  proscribed  and  made 
them  citizens,  giving  them  his  own  name.  These  Cornelii, 
ten  thousand  in  number,  formed  his  body-guard.  He  also 
decreed  that  descendants  of  the  proscribed  should  never  be 
eligible  to  any  office. 

Sulla  now  devoted  himself  to  the  reorganization  of  the 
government.  His  plan  was  to  restore  to  the  senate  and 
nobles  that  power  of  which  they  had  gradually  been  deprived 
by  the  assembly  and  the  tribunes  of  the  people.  These  were 
the  details  of  his  plan  : 

I.  The  tribunes  were  deprived  of  the  right  to  propose  laws 
to  the  people. 

n.  The  people  could  no  longer  pass  a  law  unless  pre- 
viously approved  by  the  senate. 

HI.  No  man  who  had  held  the  office  of  tribune  could 
advance  to  a  higher  office;  this  was.  designed  to  keep  men 
of  any  importance  out  of  the  tribunate. 

IV.  Sulla  filled  up  the  vacancies  in  the  senate,  greatly 
reduced  by  the  proscriptions,  by  appointing  three  hundred 
new  members  from  among  the  knights. 

V.  He  restored  to  the  senators  the  right  of  serving  as 
judges  in  criminal  cases. 

VI.  He  suppressed  the  censorship.  In  the  future  every 
magistrate  in  retiring  from  office  became  senator  by  right. 

Death  of  Sulla. — Sulla  celebrated  his  triumph  over 
Mithridates,  followed  by  the  nobles  crowned  with  flowers 
and  lauding  him  as  their  savior.  He  attributed  his  success 
less  to  his  own  talents  than  to  the  favor  of  the  gods  (the 
ancients  regarded  Fortune  as  a  divinity).  He  took  the  sur- 
name Felix  (Happy),  called  in  Greek  Epaphroditui,  favored 
of  Aphrodite,  goddess  of  happiness.  He  named  his  children 
Faustus  and  Fausta  (Favored).  He  established  festivals  in 
honor  of  Victory;  consecrated  to  Hercules  a  tenth  of  his 
fortune,  and  gave  to  the  people  banquets  where  they  were 


212  THE  ROMAN  PEOPLE. 

served  with  very  old  wine  and  food  in  such  abundance  that 
they  could  not  eat  it  all,  and  great  quantities  were  thrown 
into  the  Tiber. 

After  giving  the  government  once  more  into  the  hands  of 
the  senate,  Sulla  resigned  the  dictatorship  and  retired  to  his 
country-seat,  where  he  entertained  himself  with  musicians 
and  actors.  He  was  well  guarded  always  by  hig  veterans 
and  his  Cornelii,  but  he  died  within  a  very  short  time, — ^^in 
a  fit  of  rage,  it  is  said  (79  B.C.). 

His  body  was  brought  to  Rome  and  buried  on  the 
Campus  Martins.  All  Italy  came  to  join  in  his  funeral 
ceremonies. 

*  In  the  dictatorship  of  Sulla  can  be  seen  the  essence  of 
the  empire.  It  was  one-man  power.  If  he  had  had  the 
constructive  genius  of  a  Julius  Caesar  or  the  caution  and 
craft  of  an  Augustus,  the  principate  would  have  come  a 
generation  earlier  than  it  did. 

The  old  constitution  had  proved  unworkable.  But 
another  generation  was  to  pass  before  the  new  system  could 
come;  a  period  filled  with  further  civil  wars. 

SOURCES. 

Appian Foreign    Wars,    Bk.    II,    cc.    ii-ix ;    Ctvt'l 

Wars,  Bk.  I,  cc.  iv-xii. 

Eutropius Bk.  iv,  cc.  xxvi,  xxvii. 

Florus Bk.  ill,  cc.  i,  iii,  v. 

Justin Bks.  xxxvii.  xxxviii. 

Livy Epzt.  LXii-xc. 

Plutarch Marius,  Sulla. 

Sal  lust Jugur  thine  War. 

Paterculus Bk.  11,  §§  1 1  -24. 

s 

PARALLEL   READING. 

Duruy cc.  xxxix-xlvii. 

Ihne Bk.  vii,  cc.  vii-xxiii. 

Mommsen Bk.  iv,  cc.  iv-xiii ;  Kk.  v,  cc.  i,  ii. 

Abbott .^.- .  . .  c.  vi,  §§  88-97. 

Botsford T7t c.  vii,  pp.  160-174. 

How  and  Leigh cc.  xxxi-xlv. 


THE  PERIOD   OF  MARIUS  AND  SULLA.  213 

Morey c.  xx. 

Myers c.  xii,  p.  223-c.  xiii. 

Pelham Bk.  iv,  c.  i,  p.  214-c.  ii,  p.  240 ;  c.  iii. 

Shuckburgli cc.  xxxvi-xl. 

Beesiy The  Gracchi,  Marius  and  Sulla. 

Taylor Constitutional    and    Political  History    of 

Rome,  cc.  ix-xi. 

Long Decline  of  the  Roman  Republic. 

Menvale General  History  of  Rome,  c.  xxxii. 

Freeman Historical  Essays,  2d  Ser.,  Sulla. 


CHAPTER   XV. 
POMPEY. 

Pompey. — After  Sulla's  death,  the  most  important  man 
in  Rome  was  Gnaeus  Pompeius,  one  of  his  generals.  Pompey 
was  a  noble,  son  of  a  consul,  and  possessed  extensive  estates 
in  Picenum.  When  only  twenty-three  years  of  age  Pompey 
had  recruited  an  army  among  his  own  tenants  and  led  them 
to  Sulla.  He  fought  for  Sulla  in  Italy,  then  in  Sicily  and 
in  Africa. 

Sulla  became  attached  to  Pompey.  He  permitted  him  to 
celebrate  a  triumph,  although  this  was  contrary  to  custom, 
Pompey  not  being  old  enough  to  be  a  magistrate.  He  also 
surnamed  him  the  Great.  Pompey  became  second  to  Sulla 
in  Rome. 

His  figure  was  fine,  like  that  of  Alexander,  and  his  bearing 
noble;  he  lived  in  great  simplicity  for  a  man  of  such  wealth. 
He  had  many  followers,  especially  among  the  nobles  and  the 
soldiers. 

As  soon  as  Sulla  was  dead,  the  consul  Lepidus  began  to 
attack  his  work.  He  proposed  to  restore  the  confiscated 
lands  of  the  Italians,  the  political  rights  of  the  sons  of  the 
proscribed,  and  the  distribution  of  grain  to  the  poor  citizens 
of  Rome  (which  Sulla  had  stopped).  The  senate  sent  him 
to  Cisalpine  Gaul  to  rid  itself  of  him.  Lepidus  gathered  an 
army  in  his  province  and  tried  to  force  a  reelection  as 
consul.     This  was  the  beginning  of  civil  war  {yS  B.C.). 

The  senate  gave  the  command  of  the  army  to  Pompey 
although  he  had  not  yet  become  a  magistrate.     Pompey 

214 


POMPEY. 


215 


went  to  subdue  Cisalpine  Gaul.  Lepidus  brought  his  army 
to  Rome,  but  after  a  battle  on  the  Campus  Martius  (77  b.c.) 
he  fled,  and  died  soon  after. 


War  against  Sertorius. — ^The  civil  war  was  continued  in 
Spain.  Sertorius,  formerly  an  officer  under  Marius,  a  man 
who  haJ  risen  from  the  ranks  to  the  point  of  being  elected 
consul,  had  left  Rome  after  Sulla's  victory  with  a  number 
of  companions  and  taken  refuge  in  Spain,  first  among  the 
Moors  and  later  in  Lusitania  (Portugal). 

He  won  the  confidence  of  the  people  about  him  by  his 
justice  and  courage.     With  a  small  army  of  seven  thousand 


2i6  THE  ROMAhl  PEOPLE. 

men  he  attacked  the  Roman  generals,  defeating  four  of 
them,  and  advanced  little  by  little  to  the  Ebro.  He  formed 
an  army  of  Spanish  barbarians,  armed  and  disciplined  like 
the  Roman  soldiers  and  commanded  by  Roman  officers. 
He  composed  a  Roman  senate  of  proscribed  nobles  who 
had  escaped  from  Rome  and  taken  refuge  in  Spain.  The 
remnant  of  the  army  of  Lepidus  came  and  joined  him.  The 
chiefs  of  the  Spanish  peoples  entrusted  their  sons  to  his  care; 
he  brought  them  all  to  one  city  and  had  them  brought  up 
under  Roman  teachers. 

Thus  there  grew  up  in  Spain  a  party  hostile  to  the  senate. 
The  senate  sent  its  best  generals  against  it.  The  first  to  go 
\vas  Metellus,  who  was  old  and  worn,  and,  being  accustomed 
to  regular  warfare,  was  unable  to  cope  with  the  ambuscade 
attacks  made  by  Sertorius.  Pompey  was  sent  to  his  relief. 
Pompey  was  wounded,  but  escaped  while  his  enemies  were 
busy  dividing  the  trappings  of  his  horse.  He  was  saved  from 
defeat  only  by  the  arrival  of  Metellus  (76-74  b.c). 

Sertorius  said  :  "  If  that  old  woman  (meaning  Metellus)  had 
not  arrived,  I  would  have  sent  this  child  (Pompey)  back  to 
Rome  with  a  good  whipping." 

Metellus  decided  to  place  a  price  on  the  head  of  Seriorius, 
and  promised  one  hundred  talents  (more  than  100,000 
dollars)  to  any  man  that  would  kill  him.  Some  of  his 
Roman  officers  conspired  against  him,  invited  him  to  a 
banquet  and  stabbed  him  (72  b.c).  After  his  death  his 
army  was  dispersed. 

War  against  Spartacus. — There  had  already  been  in 
Sicily  two  revolts  of  ill-treated  slaves  against  their  masters 
(135  and  103  B.C.).  In  each  case  a  Roman  army  had  to  be 
sent  to  put  down  the  movement. 

In  73  B.C.  a  slave  revolt  began  in  Italy.  There  was  at 
Capua  a  gladiatorial  school  (see  page  354)  where  slaves  were 
held  and  trained  for  the  public  amusement.  Gauls  and 
Thracians  were  prepared  for  this  training,  because  reputed 
the  bravest  of  the  barbarians. 


POMPEY, 


217 


A  band  of  these  gladiators  succeeded  in  escaping.  Enter- 
ing a  cook-shop,  they  armed  themselves  with  spits  and 
chopping-knives  and  left  the  city,  They  met  on  their  way 
chariots  loaded  with  gladiators'  arms;  these  they  seized  and 
entrenched  themselves  on  a  steep,  vine-covered  mountain. 
For  their  leader  they  chose  a  Thracian  named  Spartacus, 
who  proved  himself  an  excellent  captain. 

A  small  Roman  army  came  and  surrounded  their  moun- 


GLADIATORS. 


tain.  Using  the  vines  as  ladders  they  descended  the  sharp 
peaks,  made  a  sudden  attack  on  the  besieging  army  and  put 
it  to  rout.  The  slave  herdsmen  of  the  neighborhood  joined 
them,  and  they  were  soon  an  army. 

Spartacus  defeated  three  small  Roman  armies  and  led  his 
men  towards  the  Alps,  where  he  intended  to  dismiss  them, 
some  to  Thrace,  the  rest  to  Gaul.  One  after  the  other  he 
met  the  armies  of  the  two  consuls  and  repulsed  them. 

The  senate  then  gave  command  of  the  army  to  Crassus, 
one  of  Sulla's  generals  and  the  richest  man  in  Rome, 


2i8  THE  ROMAN  PEOPLE. 

The  army  of  Spartacus  was  divided  by  nations:  Germans, 
Gauls,  and  Thracians,  all  in  their  separate  camps.  Spartacus 
attempted  to  go  to  Sicily  to  incite  an  insurrection  among 
the  slaves,  but  the  pirates  who  had  promised  to  transport  his 
men  left  them  on  the  shore.  Crassus  attacked  the  bands  of 
rebels  one  by  one  and  exterminated  them.  Spartacus  was 
killed  in  a  battle  (71  B.C.). 

Pompey  was  returning  from  Spain  with  his  troops,  when 
he  met  by  chance  a  band  of  fugitives  and  killed  them.  He 
wrote  the  senate  that  "  Crassus  had  defeated  the  slaves,  but 
that  it  remained  for  me  to  stamp  out  the  war. ' ' 

Pompey  and  Crassus,  each  with  his  army,  arrived  before 
Rome  and  arranged  together  that  both  should  be  elected 
consuls.  Heretofore  they  had  supported  the  senate,  but  on 
becoming  consuls  they  returned  to  the  popular es,  and  had 
Sulla's  chief  laws  repealed.  The  censorship  was  reestablished 
and  the  powers  of  the  tribunes  restored  (70  b.c). 

Verres. — Since  Sulla  had  given  criminal  jurisdiction  back 
into  the  hands  of  the  senators,  it  had  become  impossible  to 
convict  a  governor  of  a  province;  no  matter  what  his  crime, 
he  was  always  acquitted. 

A  tribune  publicly  denounced  the  governor  of  Sicily, 
Verres,  and  a  young  orator  named  Cicero,  undertook  to 
accuse  him  before  the  tribunal  (70  b.c). 

Verres  had  been  governor  of  Sicily  for  three  years  and  had 
been  guilty  of  endless  abuses,  some  of  which  follow: 

He  sold  judgments  and  offices;  no  one  could  be  elected 
to  any  city  council  without  making  a  payment  to  him.  In 
this  way  he  extorted  from  a  rich  Sicilian  over  a  million 
sesterces  ($50,000),  his  finest  horses,  silver  plate,  and 
carpets.      He  pronounced  judgments  regardless  of  forms. 

.  He  levied  exorbitant  taxes.  From  one  city  he  extorted 
three  hundred  thousand  bushels  of  grain  beyond  what  was 
due,  from  another  four  hundred  thousand.  One  city  made 
bold  to  ask  that  the  surplus  be  returned;  the  envoys  were 
scourged  and  an  additional  four  hundred  thousand  bushels 


POMPEY.  219 

exacted.  Verres  had  received  from  the  Roman  treasury 
thirty-seven  million  sesterces  (nearly  $2,000,000)  to  buy 
grain;  he  kept  the  money  and  sent  to  Rome  the  grain  he 
had  stolen. 

He  had  a  great  love  for  art  treasures  and  took  possession 
of  them  wherever  he  found  them.  From  Messina  he  took 
the  statue  of  Love  by  Praxiteles,  from  Agrigentum  a  beauti- 
ful vase,  from  Segesta  the  image  of  Diana,  and  from  Enna 
the  image  of  Ceres.  When  the  king  of  Syria  passed  through 
his  province  with  a  collection  of  treasures  to  offer  at  the 
Capitol  in  Rome,  Verres  took  them  all  from  him. 

When  war  broke  out  against  the  pirates  Verres  seized  the 
opportunity  to  make  the  cities  furnish  ships,  supplies,  and 
sailors;  he  sold  provisions,  furloughs,  and  exemptions.  His 
fleet,  left  without  soldiers  or  sailors,  was  defeated,  and  the 
captains  beheaded. 

He  imprisoned  a  Roman  citizen  who  was  in  business  at 
Syracuse.  The  citizen  escaped  to  Messina;  there  Verres 
caught  him  and  had  him  beaten  by  all  his  lictors  at  once 
and  crucified  with  his  face  towards  Italy.  The  victim  kept 
repeating,  **  I  am  a  Roman  citizen."  Both  beating  and 
putting  a  citizen  to  death  were  forbidden  by  law. 

Verres  did  not  deny  these  facts;  he  said,  however,  that 
he  had  used  a  third  of  his  extortions  to  buy  his  judges. 
The  most  famous  lawyer  in  Rome,  Hortensius,  was  employed 
in  his  defence,  and  his  successor  in  Sicily  tried  to  prevent 
the  collection  of  evidence  against  him.  Cicero's  charge  was, 
however,  so  convincing  that  Hortensius  could  make  no 
reply.  Verres,  feeling  that  there  was  no  further  hope  for 
him,  went  into  exile.  This  was  all  his  punishment,  but  the 
affair  raised  so  much  scandal  that  the  people  passed  a  law 
altering  the  composition  of  the  courts.  Senators  alone  were 
no  longer  allowed  to  sit  as  judices  (practically  jurors),  but 
knights  and  tribunes  of  the  treasury  were  added  in  equal 
numbers  by  the  Aurelian  Law, 


2  20  THE  ROMAN  PEOPLE. 

Second  War  against  Mithridates. — Mithridates  had 
meanwhile  resumed  the  war.  With  the  aid  of  a  general  sent 
by  Sertorius,  he  once  more  conquered  the  little  kingdoms 
of  Asia  Minor  and  attacked  the  province  of  Asia,  promising 
the  inhabitants  that  he  would  do  away  with  the  taxes. 

He  had  reorganized  his  army,  giving  up  his  Greek 
phalanx,  and  drilling  it  after  the  Roman  model.  His 
cavalry,  mounted  on  swift  horses,  were  trained  to  manoeuvre 
in  small  squadrons,  feigning  flight  and  suddenly  returning 
to  the  charge. 

Rome  sent  Lucullus  against  Mithridates.  He  found  in 
Asia  the  two  legions  that  had  deserted  Fimbria  for  Sulla, 
and  with  great  difficulty  restored  discipline  among  them 
(74  B.C.).  His  first  movement  was  to  take  possession  of  the 
Greek  city  of  Cyzicus  and  destroy  Mithridates'  fleet 
{y^  B.C.).  He  then  entered  the  kingdoms  conquered  by 
Mithridates,  passed  through  the  ravaged  country  accom- 
panied by  thirty  thousand  natives  carrying  flour,  and  wintered 
in  Mithridates'  own  kingdom  (72  B.C.).  His  soldiers  pillaged 
the  kingdom  and  found  booty  so  plentiful  that  an  ox 
brought  only  one  drachma  (twenty  cents)  and  a  slave  four; 
the  rest  of  the  booty  could  not  find  a  purchaser  at  any  price. 

The  next  year  Lucullus  drove  Mithridates  back  into  the 
mountains,  attacked  his  camp  and  captured  it.  Mithridates 
took  refuge  with  his  father-in-law,  the  king  of  Armenia, 
leaving  word  with  his  wives  and  sisters  to  kill  themselves  to 
avoid  capture. 

Lucullus  spent  two  years  in  recovering  the  Greek  cities 
from  the  kingdom  of  Pontus,  which  resisted  him  stubbornly, 
and  in  restoring  order  in  the  province  of  Asia.  The  Roman 
publicans  and  bankers  were  tormenting  the  people  to  wring 
from  them  the  twenty  thousand  talents  exacted  by  Sulla. 
The  people  were  forced  to  sell  their  sons  and  daughters  or 
submit  to  torture, — exposure  to  the  sun  in  summer,  to  the 
cold  in  winter.  Lucullus  came  to  their  assistance,  and  fixed 
the  interest  on  their  debt  at  twelve  per  cent. 


POMPEY.  221 

War  against  Tigranes. — Tigranes,  father-in-law  of  Mith- 
ridates,  ruled  over  a  kingdom  which  was  at  the  time  the 
largest  in  Asia.  From  the  mountains  of  Armenia  he  had 
conquered  the  whole  country  from  Media  to  the  Taurus, 
even  Syria.  He  had  established  a  new  capital,  Tigranocerta, 
with  a  wall  seventy-seven  feet  thick;  he  had  dragged  the 
inhabitants  of  several  Greek  cities  here  by  force  to  make  up 
a  population.  He  called  himself  King  of  Kings;  four  kings 
formed  his  escort;  when  he  seated  himself  on  his  throne  they 
remained  standing  on  the  steps  hand  in  hand,  and  when  he 
rode  out  they  ran  before  him. 

At  first  he  refused  to  receive  Mithridates,  placed  him  in  a 
strong  fortress  and  left  him  there  for  almost  two  years. 
When  Lucullus  sent  to  him  to  demand  the  surrender  of 
Mithridates,  he  was  offended  by  the  proposal,  and  also  by 
the  fact  that  Lucullus  addressed  him  simply  as  king,  instead 
of  king  of  kings.  He  sent  for  Mithridates  and  decided  to 
attack  the  Romans. 

Lucullus  took  the  offensive,  crosse  I  the  Euphrates  and 
opened  the  attack.  Tigranes  was  taken  by  surprise  and  fled 
with  his  treasure  and  his  wives. 

Tigranes  had  let  himself  be  persuaded  by  his  courtiers  that 
Lucullus  would  not  dare  resist  so  great  a  king  and  would  flee 
at  the  sight  of  him.  When  a  messenger  came  to  announce  the 
arrival  of  Lucullus  he  had  him  put  to  death.  After  this  no  one 
dared  warn  him,  and  he  therefore  took  no  measures  to  defend 
himself. 

The  Romans  laid  siege  to  Tigranocerta.  Tigranes  came 
to  relieve  the  city. 

Lucullus  led  twelve  thousand  foot-soldiers  and  three 
thousand  horsemen  across  the  Tigris  in  the  presence  of  the 
opposing  army,  and  without  giving  the  archers  time  to  let 
fly  their  arrows,  mounted  the  hill  with  his  infantry.  Reach- 
ing the  summit  he  cried,  **  Victory!  "  attacked  the  fleeing 
Armenian  cavalry,  and  hurled  himself  upon  the  infantry. 
The  Romans  had  nothing  further  to  do  but  slaughter  at  will. 

According  to  the    account  given  by  Lucullus,  Tigranes 


2  22  THE  ROMAN  PEOPLE. 

had  fifty-five  thousand  horsemen,  one  hundred  and  fifty 
thousand  foot-soldiers,  twenty  thousand  archers  and  slingers, 
and  thirty-five  thousand  pioneers.  The  Romans  lost  but 
five  killed  and  one  hundred  wounded  (69  B.C.). 

It  is  said  that,  before  the  battle,  Tigranes,  seeing  the  small 
number  of  Romans,  said  :  "  For  an  embassy  they  are  many,  but 
for  an  army  very  few." 

Lucullus  took  Tigranocerta  and  sent  home  the  Greeks  and 
barbarians  that  Tigranes  had  brought  there.  He  seized 
Tigranes'  treasure,  amounting  to  eight  thousand  talents, 
and  from  the  rest  of  the  booty  gave  eight  hundred  drachmas 
($160)  to  each  soldier.  His  army  was,  however,  too  small, 
and  his  soldiers  did  not  pay  much  attention  to  his  orders. 
They  thought  him  too  proud,  and  reproached  him  for 
making  them  live  in  camp  instead  of  letting  them  sack  the 
rich  cities,  accusing  him  also  of  keeping  all  the  money  for 
himself  and  of  employing  them  only  as  escort  for  his  spoil- 
laden  chariots  and  camels.  They  refused  to  fight  and 
allowed  Mithridates  to  return  in  arms  to  the  borders  of  his 
kingdom  (6^  B.C.).  Then  Pompey  came  to  assume  com- 
mand, and  Lucullus  was  left  with  only  sixteen  hundred  men 
(66  B.C.). 

War  against  the  Pirates. — The  ports  of  Cilicia  had  long 
been  infested  with  pirates,  who  made  a  business  of  capturing 
men  and  selling  them  as  slaves.  Rome  had  already  sent  her 
generals  against  them  and  even  created  a  province  of  Cilicia 
with  a  proconsul  and  an  army.  It  was  not  easy  to  destroy 
them,  however,  for,  when  pursued,  they  fled  to  the  inacces- 
sible mountains  of  the  Taurus. 

While  Rome  was  occupied  with  her  wars,  the  pirates  were 
steadily  increasing  in  number;  they  lent  assistance  to  Mithri- 
dates and  Tigranes,  and  finally  formed  an  actual  state  with 
officers,  strongholds,  arsenals,  and  a  fleet  of  war- vessels 
(numbering  one  thousand,  it  is  said).  They  did  not  confine 
their  operations  to  the  Asiatic  coast,  but  penetrated  the 
Adriatic   Sea   and  sailed   around  the  coasts  of  Sicily  and 


POMPEY.  223 

western  Italy.  They  not  only  attacked  ships,  but  ravaged 
the  coast,  attacked  cities  (taking  four  hundred  of  them)  and 
carried  off  members  of  rich  families  to  get  ransom  for  them. 
In  this  way  they  bore  away  from  Italy  two  Roman  praetors, 


GREEK    PIKAIE    VESSHL. 


with  their  escort  and  lictors,  and  stole  the  daughter  of  a 
Roman  dignitary  on  her  way  into  the  country. 

Their  ships  were  magnificent,  with  gilded  stern,  silver  oars, 
and  purple  carpet  covering  the  deck ;  they  had  banquets  on 
board,  with  musicians  to  entertain  them.  They  had  grown  to 
despise  even  the  Romans.  When  a  prisoner  said  he  was  a 
Roman,  they  amused  themselves  by  pretending  to  be  overcome 
with  respect,  threw  themselves  on  their  knees,  begged  pardon 
for  their  mistake,  and  brought  him  a  toga  so  that  in  future  his 
high  position  should  not  be  mistaken.  After  this  they  brought 
a  ladder,  and,  placing  its  foot  in  the  sea,  invited  him  to  descend 
and  return  to  his  home  in  peace.  If  he  refused,  they  threw  him 
into  the  sea. 

It  was  no  longer  safe  to  sail  on  the  Mediterranean,  and 
Rome  could  not  obtain  a  sufficient  supply  of  grain.  The 
Roman  people  demanded  energetic  action,  and  passed  a  law 
giving  Pompey  special  powers.  He  received  the  right  for 
three  years  to  command  the  entire  coast  fifteen  miles  back 
from  the  water,  to  raise  one  hundred  and  twenty  thousand 


2  24  THE  ROMAN  PEOPLE. 

soldiers,  and  equip  five  hundred  galleys.  All  magistrates 
must  obey  him;  twenty-four  generals  were  subject  to  his 
orders.  The  people  had  vested  Pompey  with  almost  royal 
power,  against  the  wish  of  the  senate. 

In  six  weeks  Pompey  drove  the  pirates  from  the  waters  of 
Italy  and  Sicily,  and  returned  to  Rome.  In  fifty  days  he 
drove  them  from  the  Grecian  seas,  pursued  them  to  Cilicia, 
destroyed  their  fleet  and  forced  them  to  surrender  their 
capital.  He  spared  all  who  gave  themselves  up  and  settled 
them    in    some    eastern    cities    that    he    was    repopulating 

(67  B.C.). 

Pompey  in  Asia ;  Third  Mithridatic  War. — By  passing 
another  law  the  people  added  to  Pompey's  powers  command 
of  the  war  against  Mithridates  and  the  government  of  all  the 
Asiatic  provinces.  Pompey  proceeded  to  assume  command 
of  the  army  of  Lucullus  (66  b.c). 

It  is  said  that  when  the  two  generals  met  they  began  by  ex- 
changing compliments  on  their  exploits,  but  ended  by  upbraiding 
one  another,  Lucullus  reproaching  Pompey  for  his  ambition, 
Pompey  reproaching  Lucullus  for  his  greed.  Their  friends 
separated  them  with  difficulty. 

This  war  was  an  easy  one,  Lucullus  having  destroyed  the 
power  of  the  two  kings.  Pompey  pursued  the  small  army 
of  Mithridates  and  routed  him.  Mithridates  escaped  with 
one  of  his  wives.  He  tried  to  take  refuge  with  Tigranes,  but 
Tigranes  repulsed  him  and  put  a  price  on  his  head,  while 
he  himself  went  to  the  Roman  camp  and  sued  for  peace. 
Pompey  left  him  in  possession  of  his  kingdom,  but  made  him 
pay  an  indemnity  of  six  thousand  talents.  The  Romans 
then  attacked  the  Caucasus  mountaineers,  and  advanced 
almost  to  the  Caspian  Sea  (65  e.g.). 

Pompey  returned  to  reorganize  the  conquered  countries. 
He  made  of  Pontus  and  Bithynia  a  Roman  province;  the 
rest  of  Asia  Minor  he  restored  to  the  petty  kings,  who  were 
Rome's  allies.  Syria,  which  Tigranes  had  taken  from 
Antiochus,   was  not  restored   to  its  former  king;    Pompey 


POMPEY.  225 

made  it  a  Roman  province,  without  waiting  for  orders  from 
the  senate.  The  Jews  attempting  resistance,  he  took 
Jerusalem  and  the  Temple  (63  b.c). 

Meanwhile  Mithridates,  who  had  taken  refuge  north  of 
the  Black  Sea,  was  preparing  to  resume  the  war  in  Europe. 
His  plan  was  to  lead  his  allies,  the  barbarians  of  the  Danube 
region,  up  the  valley  of  the  Danube,  enlisting  the  warlike 
peoples  on  his  way,  and  to  invade  Italy  from  the  Alps.  But 
his  son,  who  was  anxious  to  supplant  him,  rebelled  and 
declared  himself  the  ally  of  Rome.  Mithridates  killed  him- 
self to  avoid  being  captured  (63  b.c). 

Cicero  and  Catiline. — Rome  was  exposed  to  a  great 
danger  while  Pompey  was  in  the  east. 

Italy  was  full  of  discontent.  There  were  the  Italians 
whose  land  Sulla  had  taken  to  give  to  his  veterans,  and 
those  veterans  who  had  already  sold  their  land;  the  descend- 
ants of  the  proscribed  persons  whose  possessions  Sulla  had 
confiscated,  and  men  who  had  been  Sulla's  followers  and 
were  discontented  now  that  there  were  no  more  spoils  for 
them. 

Lucius  Sergius  Catilina,  one  of  the  nobles  that  had  done 
Sulla's  butchering  (he  w^as  said  to  have  placed  his  brother's 
name  on  the  list  in  order  to  get  his  fortune),  was  now  ruined 
and  in  debt;  he  tried  to  unite  the  malcontents  and  incite 
them  to  revolution.  He  had  won  support  among  the  dissi- 
pated and  ruined  young  nobles  in  Rome  by  lending  them 
money  and  furnishing  them  hunting  dogs  and  horses.  He 
arranged  with  them  to  assassinate  both  the  consuls  on  their 
way  to  the  Capitol,  but  the  consuls  were  warned  and  the 
scheme  fell  through  (63  B.C.). 

Catiline  continued  his  conspiracies.  The  anti-senatorial 
party  supported  him  secretly.  He  offered  himself  for  the 
consulship,  but  Cicero  was  elected  over  him  (65  b.c). 

Marcus  Tullius  Cicero,  the  most  famous  of  Roman 
orators,  was  only  a  knight  and  of  moderate  fortune.  It  was 
through  his  eloquence  that  he  won  fame  and  election  to  every 


226 


THE  ROMAN  PEOPLE. 


office,  even  the  consulship,  to  which  only  nobles  were 
ordinarily  eligible.  He  had  studied  at  Athens  and  Rhodes, 
and  also  in  Asia,  with  the  Greek  orators  and  philosophers; 
he  spoke  easily,  and  with  grace  and  spirit.  He  had  pleaded 
a  number  of  famous  cases,  and  made  a  number  of  speeches 
in  favor  of  Pompey. 

Cicero  devoted  the  year  of  his  consulship  to  the  suppres- 
sion of  Catiline,  who  meant  to  seize  the  power  by  force. 
Sulla's  veterans,  who  had  settled  in  Etruria,  were  to  march 
on  Rome,  while  Roman  conspirators  were  to  assassinate 
Cicero  and  the  senators  and  set  fire  to  the  city.  Cicero  was 
warned  beforehand  and  began  to  wear  a  coat  of  mail  under 
his  toga,  and  to  walk  always  with  an  escort  of  knights.  He 
tired  to  prevent  Catiline's  election  as  consul  for  the  coming 

year,  and  succeeded  by  sup- 
porting two  candidates  who 
were  friends  of  Crassus.  He 
was,  however,  very  nervous 
at  times.  He  had  no  army 
with  which  to  meet  the  con- 
spirators, the  legions  being 
with  Pompey  in  the  East. 
The  other  consul,  his  col- 
league Antonius,  secretly 
favored  the  conspirators,  and 
the  veterans  were  already 
assembled  in  arms. 

Two    proconsuls     finally 

^"^''''°-  arrived    with    their   troops. 

The  senate  ordered  the  consuls  to  ' '  see  to  it  that  the  state 

suffered  no    harm.  "^     This  formula  empowered  Cicero  to 

take  what   measures  he  deemed  necessary.      He  stationed 

P  The  dictatorship,  revived  and  perverted  by  Sulla,  was  no  longer 
trusted.  This  formula  gave  as  nearly  dictatorial  power  as  was  deeme'd 
prudent,  but  divided  it  between  the  two  consuls  instead  of  assigning  it 
to  one  man.  ] 


POMPEY. 


227 


soldiers  at  the  city  gates,  in  the  public  squares,  and  around 
the  senate  chamber.  He  then  called  the  senate  together  and 
pronounced  his  famous  discourse  (Oralions  against  Catiline^  I), 
"How   far,    Catiline,   will   you    provoke   our   patience?" 


THE    TULUANUM. 


Addressing  himself  directly  to  Catiline,  he  warned  him  that 
his  plans  were  discovered  and  urged  him  to  leave  Rome. 

Catiline  left  Rome  and  joined  the  army  of  veterans  in 
Etruria,  declaring  that  he  had  taken  the  part  of  the  unfor- 
tunate against  the  rich. 

His  partisans  in  Rome  were  meantime  making  terms  with 
the  Allobroges,  a  Gallic  people,  who  promised  to  furnish 
them  with  horsemen.  The  envoys,  however,  became  alarmed 
and  denounced  the  conspirators.  On  receiving  the  infor- 
mation Cicero  sent  for  the  five  principal  accomplices  of 
Catiline  and  forced  them  to  confess.     Then  he  asked  the 


2  28  THE  ROMAN  PEOPLE. 

senate  what  should  be  done  with  these  guilty  men.  The 
senate  advised  putting  them  to  death.  Cicero  himself 
arrested  them  (one  of  them  being  a  praetor,  only  a  consul 
could  arrest  him)  and  took  them  to  the  Tullianum  prison, 
where  they  were  strangled.  On  his  return  Cicero  said  to  the 
assembled  crowds,    "  They  have  lived." 

Catiline  began  the  war  in  Etruria  with  twenty  thousand 
men,  but  only  five  thousand  of  them  had  been  able  to  pro- 
cure arms.  Cicero  sent  against  him  his  colleague  Antonius 
whom  he  distrusted,  and  placed  a  watch  over  him.  The 
rebels  began  to  desert.  Catiline,  left  with  three  or  four 
thousand  men,  attempted  to  cross  the  Apennines;  driven 
back  by  an  army  coming  from  the  north,  he  threw  himself 
on  Antonius.  He  fought  bravely,  but  was  killed,  together 
with  all  his  men  (63  B.C.). 

Cicero,  in  the  pride  of  his  victory  and  the  surname 
"  Father  of  his  Country  "  which  the  senate  had  given  him, 
thought  himself  the  first  man  in  Rome.  He  composed  a 
piece  of  verse  in  which  he  said,  "  Let  arms  give  place  to  the 
toga!  "  But  when  he  wrote  to  Pompey  as  to  an  equal, 
Pompey  took  no  notice  of  his  letter.  When,  on  quitting 
the  consulship,  he  asked  to  address  the  people,  a  tribune 
forbade  him  to  do  so.  ^ 

Cicero's  only  power  was  in  his  oratory,  and  henceforth 
Rome  obeyed  neither  orators  nor  magistrates,  but  generals 
alone. 

SOURCES. 

Appian Civil  Wars,  Bk.  i,  cc.  xiii,  xiv,  Bk.  11, 

c.  i ;  Foreign  Wars,  Bk.  xii,  cc.  x- 

xvii. 
Cicero Orations,  especially  For  the  Manilian 

Law,  Against   Verres,  and  Against 

Catiline  ;  Letters. 

J  Cicero  nevertheless  succeeded  in  speaking.  Every  magistrate,  on 
resigning  his  charge,  had  to  swear  before  the  assembled  people  that  he 
had  observed  the  laws.  Cicero  said  :  **I  swear  that  I  have  saved  the 
Republic,"  and  the  crowd  applauded. 


POMPEY.  229 

Eutropius Bk.  VI,  §§  1-16. 

Florus Bk.  iii,  cc.  v,  vi. 

Livy £p/^.  xci-ciii. 

Paterculus Bk.  11,  §§  29-40. 

Plutarch Ca^o,  Cicero,  Crassus,  Lucullus,  Pompey, 

Sertorius. 
Sallust Conspiracy  of  Catiline, 

PARALLEL   READING. 

Duruy cc.  xlviii-li. 

Mommsen Bk.  V,  cc.  iii-v. 

Botsford c.  viii,  pp.  175-182. 

How  and  Leigh cc.  xlv-xlvii. 

Morey c.  xxi,  pp.  180-188. 

Myers c.  xiv,  pp.  264-283. 

Pelhani Bk.  iv,  c.  ii,  pp.  240-252,  c.  iii,  pp.  305 

324. 

Shuckburgh cc.  xlii,  xliii. 

Long. Decline  of  the  Roman  Republic, 

Merivale The  Fall  of  the  Roman  Republic,  cc.  ii, 

iv,  viii,  xi. 

Boissier,  G Cicero  and  his  Friends. 

Strachan-Davidson Cicero  and  the  Fall  of  the  Roman  Re* 

public  (Heroes). 

Forsyth Life  of  Cicero. 

Middleton Life  and  Letters  of  Cicero. 


CHAPTER   XVI. 


C-ffiiSAR   AND   THE   CONQUEST   OF   THE    GAULS. 


Caesar. — At  the  supreme  moment  of  Pompey's  power, 
Caesar  began  to  attract  public  attention. 

Gaius  Julius  Caesar  came  of  a  noble,  even  patrician  family, 

but  of  the  anti-senatorial  party; 
he  was  a  nephew  of  Marius,  a 
son  in-law  of  Cinna.  Hearing 
that  Sulla  had  talked  of  pro- 
scribing him,  he  had  fled  to 
Asia  and  was  captured  by  the 
Cilician  pirates. 

The  pirates,  we  are  told,  de- 
manded twenty  talents  for  his 
ransom.  He  sneered  at  their 
ig^norance  of  their  prisoner's 
value  and  promised  them  fifty. 
While  his  friends  were  collecting 
this  sum  he  remained  with  the 
pirates,  playing  games  with 
them  and  reading  poetry  to 
them  ;  when  they  did  not  show 
him  enough  admiration,  he 
treated  ihe'm  as  barbarians.  He 
said  to  them  :  "  When  I  am  free 
you  shall  all  hang  for  this." 
The  pirates  only  laughed.  As 
soon  as  his  ransom  was  paid, 
out  a  number  of  ships,  surprised 
the  pirates,  brought  them  in  chains  to  Pergamum,  and  reported 
his  action  to  the  governor  of  Asia.  As  the  governor  delayed 
to  pass  sentence  Caesar  returned  to  Pergamum,  and,  without 
waiting  for  orders,  hanged  the  pirates,  as  he  had  promised  to  do. 

•  230 


JULIUS    C^:SAK. 

Caesar  went  to  Miletus, 


fitted 


Cj^SAR  and   the  conquest  of  the  GAULS,    231 

On  his  return  to  Rome  Caesar  led  the  life  of  the  young 
noble  of  the  day  and  gained  the  reputation  of  a  spendthrift. 
He  also  attracted  attention  by  his  eloquence;  when  his  aunt 
Julia,  widow  of  Marius,  died,  he  pronounced  her  eulogy  in 
the  Forum  and  made  so  bold  as  to  have  the  images  of 
Marius  carried  in  the  procession  (see  page  160).  He  also 
pronounced  an  oration  over  his  wife,  the  daughter  of  Cinna. 
He  became  the  favorite  of  the  people's  party  and  was  elected 
quaestor  in  68  b.c.  and  aedile  in  65.  Being  obliged,  as 
aedile,  to  provide  games,  he  supplied  three  hundred  and 
twenty  pairs  of  gladiators  and  armed  them  with  gilded 
cuirasses.  He  placed  in  the  temple  of  the  Capitol  images 
of  Marius  together  with  gilded  statues  of  Victory.  He 
borrowed  enormous  sums  to  meet  these  expenses. 

He  secured  for  himself  the  office  of  pontifex  maximus. 
He  was  suspected  of  favoring  Catiline.  When  Cicero  asked 
the  senate  what  should  be  done  with  the  guilty,  all  voted 
for  the  death-penalty.  Caesar,  however,  proposed  that  they 
should  be  imprisoned.^ 

Next  he  became  praetor,  and  at  the  end  of  his  term  was 
sent  as  governor  to  Spain;  his  debts  were  so  large  that  his 
creditors  would  not  let  him  leave  Rome.  Crassus  pledged 
himself  as  security  for  eight  hundred  and  fifty  talents. 

On  reading  the  life  of  Alexander  one  day,  Caesar  is  said  to 
have  wept,  and  cried  :  "  Is  it  not  pitiable  that,  at  the  age  when 
Alexander  had  made  all  his  conquests,  I  should  not  yet  have 
done  anything  remarkable  !  " 

The  First  Triumvirate.— About  this  time  Pompey 
returned  from  the  East,  feeling  sure  of  finding  himself  master 
in  Rome.  He  landed  in  Italy,  dismissed  his  soldiers,  and 
celebrated  his  triumph.  The  senate,  however,  did  not  seem 
inclined    to   obey   him,   refusing    to    ratify  as   a  whole    the 

[1  Caesar  did  not  propose  this  as  a  mitigation  of  the  penalty.  Being 
a  disbeliever  in  immortality  he  argued  that  death  was  only  a  momen- 
tary pang,  and  that  life-imprisonment  was  much  the  severer  penalty. 
It  is  inconceivable  that  Caesar  should  have  favored  the  schemes  of  a 
debauchee  like  Catiline.] 


232  THE  ROMAN  PEOPLE. 

arrangements  Pompey  had  made  in  Asia;  it  also  refused  to 
give  land  to  his  soldiers.  Pompey  was  displeased  and 
became  hostile  to  the  senate,  as  Crassus  was  already. 

Caesar  now  returned  from  Spain,  reconciled  Pompey  and 
Crassus  and  made  arrangements  with  them  to  take  the  power 
away  from  the  senatorial  party  (6c  B.C.).  This  understand- 
ing between  these  three  men  was  called  the  triumvirate. 
The  triumvirs  were  supported  by  the  people  and  the  soldiers 
and  held  the  mastery  over  Rome. 

Caesar  was  elected  consul,  and,  according  to  agreement, 
proposed  to  the  people  a  set  of  laws  ratifying  what  Pompey 
had  done  in  Asia  and  giving  land  to  twenty  thousand  of  his 
soldiers.  The  other  consul,  Bibulus,  who  had  been  elected 
by  the  senatorial  party,  tried  to  prevent  Caesar  from  convok- 
ing the  people.  The  assembly  met  in  spite  of  him,  and  was 
protected  by  bands  of  armed  men.  Bibulus  entered  the 
assembly  and  declared  the  sky  and  the  auspices  to  be 
unfavorable.  But  when  he  tried  to  speak  he  was  thrown 
down  the  steps  of  the  temple;  a  fight  ensued  and  two 
tribunes  were  wounded.  The  laws  were  passed.  Bibulus 
retired  to  his  house  and  stayed  there  until  the  end  of  his 
consulate.  He  had  declared  every  day  to  be  a  holiday,  and 
ancient  religion  forbade  the  holding  of  assemblies  on  such 
days.  The  assembly  met,  however,  in  spite  of  his  prohibi- 
tion. 

The  people  charged  Pompey  with  the  distribution  of  the 
lands.  Caesar  secured  for  himself  the  government  of  three 
provinces  with  an  army  for  five  years  (59  B.C.),  and  at  the  end 
of  his  consulate  departed  into  Gaul,  where  he  labored  to 
attach  the  army  to  himself. 

Gaul. — Rome  had  already  subjugated  a  number  of  the 
countries  inhabited  by  the  Gallic  tribes.  Of  the  Po  valley 
(the  northern  Italy  of  to-day)  she  had  made  Cisalpine  Gaul; 
of  the  Rhone  valley  and  the  coast  from  the  Alps  to  the 
Pyrenees  she  had  made  Gallia  Narbonensis  (see  page  142). 
Caesar  had  these  two  provinces  and  Illyria. 


C^SAR  AND   THE  CONQUEST  OF  THE  GAULS.     233 

All  the  other  Gallic  countries  (the  greater  part  of  France) 
still  belonged  to  independent  peoples.  These  peoples  were 
not  a  nation,  having  very  little  in  common,  not  even  a 
name.  They  formed  at  least  three  distinct  groups :  in  the 
south,  between  the  Pyrenees  and  the  Garonne,  the  Aquitani, 
a  race  similar  to  the  Iberians  in  Spain ;  in  the  centre,  between 
the  Garonne  and  the  Seine,  the  Celts  or  Gauls,  akin  to  the 
Gauls  Rome  had  fought  in  Italy;  on  the  north,  between  the 
Seine  and  the  Rhine,  the  Belgic  Gauls,  who  were  Celts  with 
a  mixture  of  Germans. 

It  appears  that  the  Celts  and  Belgic  Gauls,  in  their  fight- 
ing element  at  least,  were  more  like  the  Germans  of  to-day 
than  the  French.  They  had  great  white  bodies,  red  hair, 
blue  eyes,  and  big  mustaches.  They  lived  chiefly  on  meat 
and  drank  excessively  of  hydromel  and  a  si  rt  of  beer  made 
of  barley.  They  fought  either  without  clothing  or  in  coats 
of  mail,  great  helmets  on  their  heads,  and  armed  with  heavy 
javelins  and  large  swords  which  they  carried  on  the  right 
side. 

They  wore  heavy  garments,  a  sort  of  breeches,  a  colored 
tunic,  and  over  all  a  sort  of  cloak  clasped  on  the  shoulder; 
their  shoes  were  of  wood.  They  lived  in  little  round  huts, 
but  they  had  already  provided  themselves  with  strongholds' 
into  which  to  retire  in  time  of  war.  The  protecting  walls 
were  made  of  tree-trunks  and  stones,  the  wood  keeping  the 
stones  from  crumbling  in  the  rain,  while  the  stone  kept  the 
wall  from  destruction  by  fire. 

We  know  very  little  of  their  religion,  merely  the  names  of 
their  gods  being  preserved.  We  know  that  the  Celts  had 
priests  whom  we  call  druids.  Every  year  at  the  waning  of 
the  last  winter  moon  the  druids  went  out  into  the  forest  to 
find  a  mistletoe  growing  on  an  oak.  Then,  robed  in  white, 
they  went  with  great  ceremony  to  cut  the  mistletoe  with  a 
golden  sickle,  and  dipped  it  in  water. 

The  country  was  divided  among  sixty  small  tribes,  each 
of  which  formed  an  independent  state,  governing  itself  and 


234  THE  ROMAN  PEOPLE. 

making  war  on  the  others.  Their  governments  differed  in 
form,  some  having  a  king,  but  the  greater  part  were  governed 
by  a  council  composed  of  nobles  and  in  some  cases  priests. 
These  nobles  were  landowners  and  men  of  wealth.  In  war 
they  fought  on  horseback,  accompanied  by  their  servants; 
Caesar  called  them  the  knights. 

These  people  were  still  barbarians,  but  they  were  begin- 
ning to  trade  with  the  Greeks  in  Massilia  and  the  Romans 
in  Narbonese  Gaul.  They  wrote  with  the  Greek  alphabet. 
They  stamped  coins  in  imitation  of  those  issued  by  the  kings 
of  Macedonia.  They  manufactured  collars  and  trappings  of 
silver.  The  inhabitants  of  the  Bordeaux  region  worked  iron- 
mines. 

The  Romans,  having  had  control  of  southern  Gaul  since 
1 20  B.C.,  had  already  entered  into  relations  with  the  inde- 
pendent tribes  and  made  alliance  with  the  -^dui,  who 
occupied  the  mountains  west  of  the  Saone.  The  ^dui 
invited  the  Romans  into  Gaul. 

Wars  against  the  Helvetii  and  Ariovistus  (58  b.c). — 
The  ^dui  were  on  hostile  terms  with  their  neighbors:  the 
Sequani,  on  their  northern  border  (Franche-Comte),  of 
whom  they  exacted  a  tax  for  every  ship  that  passed  up  the 
Saone,  and  the  Arverni  on  the  west  (Auvergne)  whom  they 
forbade  to  navigate  the  Loire. 

The  Sequani,  wishing  to  make  war  on  the  ^dui,  sent 
across  the  Rhine  for  a  German  named  Ariovistus,  chief  of 
the  tribe  of  Suevi.  He  came  with  fifteen  thousand  men  and 
defeated  the  ^dui,  but  he  established  himself  among  the 
Sequani  (in  the  neighborhood  of  Alsace),  and  forced  them 
to  yield  to  him  two  thirds  of  their  territory.  The  Sequani 
were  alarmed  and  effected  a  reconciliation  with  the  ^dui, 
and  an  ^duan  noble  was  sent  to  ask  help  of  Rome. 

The  Helvetii,  a  Gallic  tribe  settled  in  Switzerland,  then 
decided  to  move  into  Gaul.  Their  preparations  occupied 
three  years.  When  all  was  ready  they  burned  their  cities  and 
towns   and   set   out  with  their  wives   and   children,    their 


C/ESAR  AND    THE   CONQUEST  OF   THE  GAULS.     235 


chariots  and  all  their  movable  possessions;  in  all  three 
hundred  and  sixty-eight  thousand  people,  of  whom  ninety- 
two  thousand  uere  warriors.  They  marched  in  bands, 
arranging  to  meet  at  the  Rhone  and  together  invade  the 
territory  of  the  ^Edui. 

Gaul  thus  suffered  invasion  by  the  Suevi  and  Helvetii  at 
the  same  time. 

Caesar  at  first  tried  to  stop  the  Helvetii.  He  reached 
Geneva  and  cut  the  bridge  across  the  Rhone.  When  the 
Helvetii  found  the  passage  closed  they  crossed  the  Jura 
Mountains  and  descended  to  the  Saone. 

Caesar  had  time  to  return  to  Italy  and  to  bring  with  him 
five  legions,  and  he  attacked  them  just  as  they  had  crossed 
the  Saone,  then  followed  them  for  two  weeks.  A  general 
battle  was  fought  near  Macon.  The  Romans  were  victorious 
and  drove  the  Helvetii  back  to  the  chariots  which  formed 
their  camp;  there  they  met  the  women  and  children  and  a 
great  massacre  followed.  Those  who  escaped  surrendered 
themselves  and  were  sent  by  Caesar  to  their  old  homes. 

Caesar  marched  to  the  valley  of  ihe  Rhine  and  established 
his  camp  opposite  that  of  Ariovistus.  The  two  chiefs  had 
an  interview,  in  which  Ariovistus  said:  "This  country 
belongs  to  me;  I  have  conquered  it  as  Rome  conquered  the 
Province."  He  added  that  men  of  high  position  in  Rome 
had  offered  him  their  friend.-hip  if  he  would  rid  them  of 
Caesar. 

Caesar  routed  the  barbarians  and  pursued  them  to  the 
Rhine.  Almost  all  of  them  were  slain.  Ariovistus  himself 
escaped  and  returned  to  Germany.  Gaul  was  now  rid  of 
barbarian  invaders. 

Conquest  of  Northern  Gaul  (57  b.c). — The  Roman 
legions,  instead  of  returning  to  the  Roman  Province,  remained 
in  Gaul  and  wintered  near  the  Saone.  The  Belgic  Gauls, 
in  the  north,  were  displeased  at  the  sight  of  these  strangers 
settled  near  them,  and  made  alliance  together  to  expel  the 
Romans  in  the  spring. 


236 


THE  ROMAN  PEOPLE, 


Caesar  enlisted  two  new  legions  and  made  alliance  with 
one  of  the  tribes,  the  Remi  (Rheims).  He  passed  through 
their  country  and  marched  against  the  Belgic  Gauls.  Caesar 
attacked  their  tribes  one  by  one  and  forced  them  to  make 
peace  and  give  hostages. 

Caesar  next  attacked  the  Nervii  (the  Hainault  of  to-day) 
and  exterminated  their  army. 

He   now   marched    acrain.-t   the   allies  of  the   Nervii,   the 

Aduatuci,  who  were  said  to  be 
descendants  of  the  Cimbri,  and 
had  shut  themselves  up  in  their 
strong  city,  built  on  a  rock. 
Caesar  took  the  city  and  sold 
the  inhabitants  as  slaves. 

In  the  same  year  the  tribes 
between  the  Seine  and  the  Loire 
surrendered  and  gave  hostages. 

When  the  winter  came,  Caesar 
left  seven  legions  established  in 
Gaul  north  of  the  Loire. 

Conquest   of   Western   Gaul 
(56  B.C.). — During   the    winter 
the  Gallic  tribes  along  the  ocean 
allied    themselves    against    the 
Romans.      They  refused  to  fur- 
nish the  legions  with  grain,  and 
when  the  Roman  envoys  came 
to  demand  it  of  them,  held  them 
until   Rome  should  restore  their 
hostages.       The  most  powerful 
of     these     tribes,     the     Veneti 
(Vannes),  had  a  fleet  of  war. 
Caesar  gave  orders  to  fit  out  a  fleet  at  the  mouth  of  the 
Loire  and,  when  spring  came,  marched  against  the  Veneti 
with  an  army. 

The  war  that  ensued  was  a  terrible  one.     It  was  impossi- 


GALLIC    PRISONKKS   AND    ThUl' 

(at  orange). 


C/ESAR  AND    THE   CONQUEST  OF   THE   GAULS.     237 

ble  to  know  where  the  Veneti  might  be  found,  for  when 
attacked,  they  transported  their  forces  to  another  point  by 
sea.  Their  ships  were  built  of  good  oak  and  were  designed 
for  rough  weather,  with  a  high  prow  so  that  they  could  not 
easily  be  boarded,  a  flat  bottom  so  that  they  could  sail  in 
shallow  water,  anchors  held  by  iron  chains,  and  leather  sails. 
The  Romans  could  not  sink  them  with  the  beaks  of  their 
galleys,  for  their  oaken  timbers  were  too  solid ;  they  could 
not  hit  the  crew  with  their  arrows,  for  even  the  towers  of 
their  galleys  did  not  reach  to  the  prows  of  the  enemy's  ships; 
neither  could  they  pursue  them  into  shallow  water. 

The  Romans,  seized  with  an  idea,  bound  great  scythes  to 
long  poles  as  handles.  With  these  they  attacked  the 
enemy's  fleet  (two  hundred  and  twenty  ships)  and  cut  the 
rigging,  so  that  the  sails  fell.  The  ships,  having  no  other 
means  of  motion,  were  rendered  helpless,  and  were  quickly 
attacked  and  captured  by  the  Romans. 

The  Veneti  sued  for  peace,  but  Caesar  treated  them  with 
great  severity.  He  put  the  chiefs  to  death  and  sold  the  rest 
of  the  people  into  slavery. 

In  the  same  year,  Labienus,  one  of  Caesar's  lieutenants, 
with  three  legions  fought  and  subdued  the  tribes  of  the 
northwest  (in  Normandy).  Another  lieutenant,  Crassus, 
son  of  the  triumvir,  crossed  the  Garonne  and  made  war  on 
the  Aquitanian  tribes. 

Caesar  had  won  the  regard  of  his  soldiers.  He  spoke 
familiarly  with  them,  knowing  many  of  them  by  name,  and 
in  time  of  peace  let  them  amuse  themselves  as  they  v/ould 
and  indulge  their  taste  for  fine  armor  and  perfumery. 
"  What  harm  is  perfumery,"  he  said,  *'  so  long  as  they  fight 
well  ?" 

During  the  winter  Caesar  returned  to  his  province  of  Cisal- 
pine Gaul,  and  invited  the  young  nobles  who  served  as 
officers  under  him  to  join  him  there.  He  received  them 
in  richly  furnished  tents  and  entertained  them  with  feasts 
where   all    talked    together   freely.       He    himself  took    up 


238  THE  ROMAN  PEOPLE, 

writing  as  a  pastime,  and  prepared  a  Greek  treatise  on 
grammar. 

Renewal  of  the  Triumvirate. — All  this  time  the  sup- 
porters of  the  senate  and  those  of  the  triumvirs  had  kept  up 
the  struggle  at  Rome.  Clodius,  a  young  noble  and  a  tribune 
of  the  people,  had  at  his  command  a  troop  of  armed  men 
and  was  the  real  master  of  Rome;  he  was  in  alliance  with 
Caesar. 

He  wished  to  be  rid  of  Cicero,  and  he  carried  a  law  con- 
demning to  exile  any  one  who  should  have  put  a  citizen  to 
death  without  trial.  Cicero  had  had  Catiline's  accomplices 
executed;  he  was  therefore  condemned  to  exile  and  his 
house  torn  down  (58  B.C.). 

Clodius  had  a  disagreement  with  Pompey.  Pompey  then 
made  a  reconciliation  with  the  party  of  the  senate  and  pro- 
posed a  law  to  recall  Cicero  from  exile.  On  this  occasion 
the  senate  party  had  employed  a  band  of  armed  men,  under 
command  of  another  tribune,  Milo.  Milo's  men  and  those 
of  Clodius  fought  in  the  assembly,  so  that  blood  flowed  to 
the  Tiber.  Cicero's  brother  was  wounded  and  escaped  only 
by  hiding  among  the  dead  (57  B.C.). 

This  event  was  followed  by  a  dearth  in  the  land.  Pompey 
used  the  opportunity  to  carry  a  law  giving  him  for  five  years 
absolute  control  over  the  markets  and  ports  of  Italy.  He 
wanted  also  an  army  with  which  to  conquer  Egypt,  but  this 
the  senate  refused;  and  this  was  the  occasion  of  another 
fight  between  the  supporters  of  Pompey  and  the  bands  con- 
trolled by  Clodius. 

Caesar,  seeing  Pompey  and  Crassus  on  bad  terms  with  the 
senate,  suggested  to  them  a  renewal  of  their  alliance  with 
him.  Durmg  the  winter  he  came  to  the  border  of  his 
province;  the  others  joined  him  at  Lucca,  bringing  with 
them  two  hundred  senators  and  so  many  governors  that  their 
lictors  numbered  one  hundred  and  twenty. 

At  this  conference  of  Lucca  the  triumvirs  decided  to 
secure  for  each  an  army  for  five  years  (56  B.C.). 


Cy^SAR  AND   THE  CONQUEST  OF  THE  GAULS.    239 

Pompey  and  Crassus  then  returned  to  Rome  to  stand  for 
election  as  consuls.  The  senate  decreed  public  mourning 
and  the  senators  descended  to  the  Forum  in  a  body;  the 
people  began  to  hiss  them,  however,  and  they  quickly 
returned  to  their  meeting-place.  For  several  months  the 
senate  observed  mourning,  holding  no  meetings  and  taking 
no  part  in  festivities. 

Pompey  and  Crassus  were  elected  consuls.  Then,  accord- 
ing to  agreement,  Pompey  received  the  provinces  of  Spain 
and  Africa,  with  four  legions,  while  Crassus  took  the 
province  of  Syria  with  the  right  to  enroll  as  many  soldiers 
as  he  wished.  Caesar's  command  was  extended  five  years, 
and  he  was  given  the  right  to  pay  his  soldiers  out  of  the 
public  treasury. 

On  the  day  that  the  people  passed  this  law,  a  tribune 
belonging  to  the  senatorial  party  attempted  to  dissolve  the 
assembly.  Being  unable  to  reach  the  rostrum,  he  mounted 
on  the  shoulders  of  his  attendants  and  cried  out  that  Jupiter 
was  thundering.  (Thunder  was  an  unlucky  sign  and  forbade 
the  holding  of  an  assembly.)  The  people  attempted  to  kill 
the  tribune  (55  b.c  ). 

Caesar's  Campaigns  on  the  Rhine  and  in  Britain. — 
Caesar  had  subjugated  the  Gauls  and  now  extended  his 
campaign  beyond  their  borders.  There  were  two  German 
tribes  that  had  crossed  the  Rhine  and  invaded  the  territory 
of  the  Belgic  Gauls.  Caesar  summoned  deputies  from  the 
Gallic  peoples  and,  receiving  reinforcements  of  horsemen 
from  them,  marched  towards  the  Rhine.  Meeting  the 
Germans,  he  attacked  them  at  the  junction  of  the  Rhine  and 
the  Meuse,  and  slew  them  all,  men,  women,  and  children. 

Then,  to  frighten  the  peoples  of  Germany,  he  built  over 
the  Rhine  a  bridge  made  of  tree-trunks,  and  completed  it  in 
ten  days;  he  crossed  the  river  and  ravaged  the  right  bank, 
then,  returning,  cut  the  bridge  and  once  more  entered 
Gaul. 

Caesar  wished  to  intimidate  the  people  of  Britain  as  well. 


24©  THE  ROM^N  PEOPLE. 

He  departed  with  eighty  ships  and  two  legions,  made  a 
landing  after  a  battle  at  the  water's  edge,  secured  hostages, 
and  returned  to  Gaul. 

The  next  year  he  went  again  to  Britain,  this  time  with 
iships  which  he  had  had  made  for  the  special  purpose,  pro- 
vided both  with  oars  and  sails,  and  large  enough  to  carry 
baggage  and  horses;  he  was  accompanied  by  five  legions  and 
two  thousand  horsemen.  Cassivellaunus,  a  British  chief, 
blocked  the  Roman  advance  with  hedges  of  tree-trunks. 
After  a  number  of  battles  Caesar  crossed  the  Thames  and, 
guided  by  an  enemy  of  Cassivellaunus,  surrounded  him  and 
took  his  stronghold,  The  British  chief  sued  for  peace 
(54  B.C.). 

Caesar  returned  to  Gaul,  with  the  distinction  of  being  the 
first  Roman  to  lead  an  army  across  the  Rhine  and  across  the 
English  Channel. 

Revolts  in  Gatil. — The  Gallic  peoples,  however,  were 
extremely  restive  under  Roman  control,  and  in  the  years 
from  54  to  51  B.C.  many  rebellions  occurred  among  them. 
The  most  formidable  of  these  was  under  Ambiorix  in  the 
north  and  Vercingetorix  in  the  south.  After  a  protracted 
struggle,  checkered  with  many  reverses  for  the  Romans,  the 
revolts  were  stamped  out  and  punished  with  merciless 
severity. 

This  was  the  final  struggle.  Caesar  boasted  that  in  eight 
years  he  had  taken  eight  hundred  cities,  subjugated  three 
hundred  peoples,  slain  a  million  men  and  sold  a  million  into 
slavery.  The  whole  of  Gaul  as  far  as  the  Rhine  was  now 
Roman  territory. 

Caesar  spent  another  year  visiting  the  Gallic  tribes  and 
organizing  the  government.  The  enemies  of  Rome  had 
perished  and  Caesar  endeavored  to  attach  the  survivors  to 
him.  He  left  them  in  possession  of  their  lands  and  imposed 
but  a  slight  tax  on  them.  His  chief  demand  was  for 
auxiliary  soldiers.  The  nobles  followed  him  willingly,  and 
he  formed  a  Gallic  legion  which  was  nicknamed  '*  the  Lark. " 


C/ESAR  AND   THE  CONQUEST  OF  THE  GAULS.    241 

He  could  now  leave  Gaul,  and  he  brought  away  with  him  the 
army  he  had  gone  there  to  inoiild. 

*  Importance  of  the  Gallic  Conquest. — The  immediate 
result  of  Caesar's  conquest  of  Gaul  was  to  give  him  the  mili- 
tary prestige  which  he  foresaw  to  be  essential  to  his  political 
ambitions.  It  did  more  than  to  furnish  him  the  skill  and 
the  reputation  he  was  anxious  to  gain:  it  also  furnished 
ready  to  his  hand  the  tool  with  which  to  work.  He  had 
knit  his  legions  so  firmly  to  himself  that  they  were  ready  to 
follow  him  into  Italy  in  defiance  of  law,  and  to  become  his 
personal  army  rather  than  a  force  at  the  service  of  the  state 
as  a  whole.  This  was  militarism  again,  but  was  only  what 
had  occurred  in  the  case  of  Sulla,  and  what  was  being  done 
by  Pompey.  As  events  were  to  follow,  it  was  well  for  Rome 
and  for  the  world  that  this  should  be  so. 

Of  even  greater  value  in  the  history  of  civilization  was  the 
Romanizing  of  Gaul.  Gaul  was  to  be  a  source  of  strength 
to  the  empire;  not  as  a  field  for  exploitation,  but  by  the 
extension  oi  the  Latin  language  and  ideas  and  mode  of  life. 
For  Gaul  was  thoroughly  Romanized,  and  in  the  days  when 
Italy  should  have  spent  all  her  vital  energy,  was  to  be  the 
home  of  a  culture  and  stability  superior  to  that  of  the 
peninsula. 

This  Romanizing  process  also  put  an  end  to  the  danger 
of  Gallic  invasion  from  that  quarter,  and  preserved  one  of 
the  best  portions  of  the  empire  for  centuries  from  the 
Germanic  inroads.  While  these  were  to  be  ultimately  the 
source  of  new  life  to  a  decadent  world,  it  was  well  that  west 
of  the  Alps  a  thoroughly  Latinized  state  should  be  built  up. 
As  a  result  we  shall  see  (iaul  becoming  France;  a  Romance 
nation  with  all  its  possibilities  for  a  brilliant  civilization  and 
splendid  contributions  to  the  world's  welfare.  Caesar  made 
Clovis,  and  later  Charlemagne,  possible,  with  all  the  benefits 
they  were  to  confer  uj)on  the  mediaeval  time.  The  Teutonic 
and  the  Gallo-Frankish  elements  were  to  be  the  two  pinions 
on  which  European  life  was  to  soar  far  higher  than  in  the 


242  THE  ROMAN  PEOPLE, 

best  of  classic  days.     Without  the  peculiar  contribution  of 
Gaul  that  flight  would  have  been  but  lame  and  low. 

Death  of  Crassus. — While  Caesar  was  putting  down  the 
Gallic  revolts,  Crassus  had  gone  to  Syria  to  make  war  on  the 
Parthians  (54  B.C.). 

The  kingdom  of  the  Parthians  included  almost  the  same 
countries  that  had  formed  the  ancient  kingdom  of  the 
Persians,  and  the  Parthians  had  adopted  the  customs  of  the 
Persians,  their  luxury  and  their  flowing  robes;  at  the  same 
time  they  preserved  their  old  fashion  of  fighting  on  horse- 
back, bow  in  hand,  retiring  as  they  shot. 

Crassus  led  his  army  across  the  Euphrates,  but  soon 
returned  to  Syria  and  went  into  winter  quarters. 

When  he  returned  to  the  country,  the  king  of  Armenia, 
who  was  Rome's  ally,  offered  to  lead  him  by  a  safe  road. 
Crassus  refused  the  offer,  and  crossed  the  Euphrates  with 
seven  legions  and  four  thousand  cavalry.  An  Arabian  chief 
came  to  him  with  a  report  that  the  Parthians  were  fleeing 
with  their  treasure  and  offered  to  guide  him  across  the  desert 
in  pursuit  of  them.  Crassus  followed  him.  This  Arab  was 
sent  by  the  Parthian  king,  and  he  led  the  Romans  into  a 
desert  of  burning  sand. 

All  at  once  the  Parthian  horsemen  made  an  attack.  Their 
arrows,  shot  from  great  strong  bows,  pierced  the  shields  and 
helmets  of  the  Romans;  when  their  quivers  were  emptied 
they  galloped  to  the  rear,  where  they  found  camels  laden 
with  arrows,  and  replenished  their  stock. 

The  son  of  Crassus,  who  commanded  thirteen  hundred 
Gallic  horsemen,  attempted  to  charge  on  the  Parthians;  the 
Parthians  pretended  to  flee,  drawing  on  the  little  troop  in 
pursuit,  then  surrounded  it.  The  young  Crassus,  whose 
hand  had  been  wounded  by  an  arrow,  ordered  an  attendant 
to  kill  him. 

Crassus  saw  his  son's  head  carried  on  a  pike;  his  soldiers 
were  too  wearied  and  terrified  to  fight  any  more.  He 
decided  to  retreat,  and  left  his  wounded  to  be  murdered  by 


C/ESAR  AND   THE  CONQUBST  OF  THE  GAULS.    243 

the  enemy.  The  Parthian  general  proposed  an  interview, 
and  on  his  way  to  the  camp  Crassus  was  killed  and  his  head 
carried  before  the  Parthian  king.  His  whole  army  was 
either  killed  or  taken  prisoner,  and  the  Roman  standards  fell 
into  the  hands  of  the  enemy  (53  b.c). 

The  death  of  Crassus  left  only  Pompey  and  Caesar  before 
the  public.  War  was  to  decide  which  of  these  two  should 
be  master, 

Sources. 

Appian Czvt'l  M^ars,  Bk    IT.  cc.  ii-iv. 

Caesar Commentaries  on  the  Gallic  War. 

Cicero Orations :  For  Sestius,  Against  Vaiinius, 

For  Milo,  On  the  Consular  Provinces; 

Letters,  passim. 

Eutropius Bk.  vi,  §§  17,  18. 

Floras   Bk.  11,  cc.  x,  xi. 

Livy Epit.  Civ-cvill. 

Paterculus Bk.  11,  §§  41-47. 

Plutarch Crassus,  Ccesar. 

Suetonius Julius  Ccesar. 

PARALLEL   READING. 

Duruy cc.  lii-lv. 

Merivale Fall  of  the  Roman  Republic^  cc.  iii,  v-vii 

ix.  X,  xii. 

Mommsen Bk.  v,  cc.  vi-viii. 

Botsford c.  viii,  pp.  183-187. 

How   and   Leigh...     cc.  xlviii,  xlix. 

Moray c.  xxi,  pp.  188-194. 

Myers .  c.  xiv,  pp.  283-291. 

Pelham Bk.  iv,  c.  ii,  pp.  252-258,  c.  iii,  pp.  271-289. 

Shuckburgh c.  xlv. 

Froude Ccesar. 

Holmes.  T.  R Ccesar  s  Conquest  of  Gaul. 

Long Decline  of  the  Roman  Republic. 

Merivaie The  Roman  Triumvirates  (Epochs). 

Dodge Ccesar  (Great  Captains). 

Greenidge c.  ix, 

Taylor Constitutional  and  Political  History  of 

Rome,  cc.  xiv,  xv. 


CHAPTER    XVII. 
END   OF  THE   REPUBLIC. 

Rupture  between  Pompey  and  Caesar. — Pompey,  instead 
of  going  to  Spain,  had  remained  near  Rome.  He  built  a 
new  theatre  with  raised  seats  accommodating  forty  thousand 
spectators,  and  inaugurated  it  with  grand  festivals  in  which 
five  hundred  lions  took  part. 

The  elections  were  hotly  contested  throughout  the  period. 
In  53  B.C.  there  was  a  seven  months'  deadlock.  Pompey's 
party  proposed  to  make  him  dictator;  then  the  candidates 
made  war  on  one  another  with  archers  and  slingers. 

The  senate  resigned  itself  to  appeal  to  Pompey  in  order  to 
end  the  disorder.  Pompey  was  elected  consul  alone,  with- 
out a  colleague  and  with  special  powers,  although,  being 
governor  of  Spain,  he  had  not  even  the  right  to  stay  in 
Rome. 

Now  that  Pompey  was  master  of  Rome,  he  thought  he  had 
no  further  need  of  Caesar;  he  refused  to  marry  his  daughter 
and  took  for  his  colleague  a  personal  enemy  of  Caesar's. 
He  carried  a  law  prolonging  his  command  in  Spain  and 
Africa  for  five  years,  and  then,  instead  of  going  to  his 
province,  remained  in  Rome. 

Caesar's  command  came  to  an  end  in  March,  49  b.c. 
The  senatorial  party  wanted  to  rid  itself  of  him  by  making 
him  return  to  Rome  without  an  army  and  without  power; 
it  would  then  be  easy  to  have  him  condemned.  But  a  law 
had  been  passed  in  52  B.C.  which  permitted  a  man  to  be 
elected  consul  without  presenting  himself  in  person  before 

244 


END  OF   THE  REPUBLIC.  245 

the  voters,  according  to  custom.  The  consul  proposed  that 
the  senate  should  order  Caesar  to  return  without  awaiting 
the  end  of  his  term.  The  tribune  Curio  suggested  that 
Caesar  and  Pompey  should  be  made  to  abdicate  at  the  same 
time.  They  agreed,  but  each  waited  for  the  other  to  resign 
fust. 

A  report  now  reached  Rome  that  Caesar  had  been  attacked 
by  the  Gauls  and  was  in  great  danger.  The  senate  decided 
to  recall  Caesar  and  send  another  man  to  succeed  him. 
Curio  proposed  that  Pompey's  power  should  also  be  with- 
drawn, and  the  senate  agreed  by  a  vote  of  370  to  22. 
The  consul  Marcel  1  us  was  angry  and  dismissed  the  senate, 
sought  out  Pompey  and  ordered  him  to  take  command  of 
the  troops  in  Italy. 

Caesar  again  offered  to  resign  if  Pompey  would  do  like- 
wise, but  the  senate  refused  to  read  his  letter.  Pompey 
camped  before  Rome  and  led  his  troops  into  the  city.  The 
senate  could  resist  him  no  longer;  it  declared  Caesar  a 
public  enemy  and  gave  his  provinces  to  other  governors. 
The  tribunes  who  had  supported  Caesar  fled  to  place  them- 
selves under  his  protection  (49  b.c). 

Caesar  in  Italy. — Caesar  was  at  Ravenna,  on  the  border 
of  his -province,  with  a  legion.  He  sent  his  soldiers  on  in 
secret,  while  he  himself  the  next  morning  cn^ssed  the  frontier 
and  joined  his  troops  at  Ariminum. 

The  story  was  told  later  that  when  on  the  point  of  crossing 
the  Rubicon,  a  small  mountain  torrent  which  marked  the 
boundary  of  Cisalpine  Gaul,  Caesar  stopped,  hesitating  to  break 
the  law  which  forbade  him  to  leave  his  province  in  arms.  Then 
he  cried,  "  The  die  is  cast  !  "  and  crossed  the  stream. 

Caesar's  army  followed  close  after  him.  Pompey's  army 
was  in  Spain.  Somewhat  earlier  Pompey,  being  asked  how 
he  proposed  to  defend  himself,  replied,  "  Whenever  I  stamp 
my  foot  on  Italian  soil,  legions  will  spring  up."  He  had 
not  counted  on  Caesar's  sudden  return.  *'  Stamp  your  foot 
now,"  some  one  said  to  him;  *'  it  is  time," 


246  THE  ROMAN  PEOPLE. 

Pompey  had  not  enough  troops  to  defend  Italy.  He  left 
Rome  with  the  senators,  but  had  not  time  to  bring  away  the 
contents  of  the  treasury  with  him.  Caesar  soon  reached 
Rome,  almost  without  resistance.  He  declared  everywhere 
that  he  had  come  "to  deliver  the  Roman  people  from  a 
tyrannous  faction  and  to  restore  the  power  of  the  tribunes." 
He  was  carefuf  to  injure  no  one.  To  the  soldiers  whom  he 
captured  he  gave  the  choice  of  serving  under  him  or  depart- 
ing in  freedom,  saying,  "  Whoever  is  not  against  me  is  for 
me." 

Pompey  and  his  party,  on  the  other  hand,  talked  of 
vengeance  and  of  proscribing  their  adversaries.  They  had 
no  hope  of  defending  Italy,  however,  and  they  set  sail  for 
the  opposite  coast  of  the  Adriatic. 

Cafesar  entered  Rome  and  remained  there  a  few  days.  He 
then  rejoined  his  troops  in  Gaul  and  led  them  against 
Pompey's  legions  in  Spain.  In  forty  days  he  made  Pompey's 
two  generals  capitulate,  and  returned  to  force  the  surrender 
of  Massilia,  which  his  fleet  had  already  blockaded  (49  B.C.). 

Caesar*s  Victory  at  Pharsalus. — Pompey  was  still  master 

of  the  whole  Orient.      He  had  a  fleet  in  the  Adriatic  and  an 

army  in  Macedonia.    Caesar  had  no  fleet,  but  boldly  brought 

his  army  across  the  Adriatic,  while  Pompey's  ships  were  all 

in    winter   quarters.       He    landed    at    Epirus    with    fifteen 

thousand    foot-soldiers    and    sent    his    transports    back    for 

reinforcements. 

It  was  said  that  one  day,  impatient  a;t  seeing  no  reinforce- 
ments arriving,  Caesar  disguised  himself  and  set  out  in  a  small 
boat  to  cross  the  Adriatic  among  the  enemy's  ships.  A  storm 
arose  and  the  pilot  wished  to  turn  back.  Caesar  said  to  him, 
"  Never  fear ;  you  carry  Caesar  and  his  good  luck."  They  were 
nevertheless  obliged  to  return. 

When  the  reinforcements  finally  arrived,  Caesar  attempted 
to  surround  Pompey's  army,  and  camped  near  Dyrrachium 
with  a  line  of  entrenchments;  the  work  occupied  four 
months.  But  his  army  was  only  half  as  large  as  Pompey's, 
and  he  had  no  fleet,  no  money,  and  no  stores;  his  soldiers 


END   OF  THE  REPUBLIC,  247 

were  reduced  to  eating  ground  roots.  Pompcy  meanwhile 
received  his  provisions  by  sea.  Caesar  attacked  him,  but 
was  repulsed  with  the  loss  of  thirty-two  standards.  Labienus, 
Caesar's  former  lieutenant,  who  was  now  fighting  under 
Pompey,  had  the  prisoners  massacred. 

Caesar  passed  into  Thessaly,  where  his  soldiers  found  plenty 
of  food.  Pompey  followed  him.  He  had  forty -seven 
thousand  legionaries  and  seven  thousand  horsemen;  Caesar 
but  twenty-two  thousand  foot-soldiers  and  one  thousand 
horsemen.  Pompey  drew  up  his  troops  on  the  plain  of 
Pharsalus,  his  right  protected  by  the  steep  bank  of  a  moun- 
tain stream;  on  his  left  he  stationed  his  cavalry,  with  which, 
composed  of  young  nobles,  well  mounted  and  armored,  he 
proposed  to  make  a  flank  movement. 

Caesar  arrangv:d  his  men  in  four  lines;  the  two  first  were 
to  attack,  leaving  the  third,'  as  usual,  to  act  as  reserve. 
With  the  fourth,  composed  of  old  soldiers,  he  proposed  to 
meet  Pompey's  cavalry,  giving  them  orders  to  hold  their 
javelins  like  pikes  until  the  enemy  was  close  enough  to 
strike  at  their  faces. 

Caesar's  first  lines  charged  on  a  run  and  hurled  their 
javelins.  Pompey's  cavalry  threw  themselves  on  the  right 
wing.  Caesar's  veterans  met  them  with  blows  on  the  face, 
routed  them,  and,  pursuing  them,  attacked  Pompey's  left 
wing.  The  reserve  came  up  and  Pompey's  army  broke 
ranks.  Pompey,  hearing  Caesar's  men  attack  his  camp, 
cried,  "What!  in  my  camp  already.?"  and  fled  on  his 
horse.  He  had  been  so  confident  of  victory  that  he  had 
arranged  no  ral lying-ground;  his  whole  army  was  therefore 
scattered  and  taken  prisoner  (48  B.C.). 

Pompey  fled  to  the  protection  of  the  king  of  Egypt;  the 
king  had  him  assassinated. 

Caesar's  Wars  in  the  East,  in  Africa,  and  in  Spain. — 
Caesar  was  now  alone  at  the  head  of  the  government.  He 
had  still  to  fight  two  years,  however,  to  subdue  the  provinces 
that  had  belonged  to  Pompey. 


248  THE  ROMAN  PEOPLE. 

He  first  went  to  Egypt  with  a  small  army  of  four  thousand 
men.  Pompey's  head  was  brought  to  him,  and  he  buried  it 
with  respect.  He  spent  the  winter  at  Alexandria,  where  he 
was  besieged  by  twenty  thousand  Egyptian  soldiers,  not  to 
mention  the  inhabitants  of  the  city.  After  many  narrow 
escapes  he  was  finally  relieved  by  a  small  army  which  came 
from  Asia  to  help  him.  He  gave  the  kingdom  to  Cleo- 
patra. 

He  then  gathered  together  some  troops  and  marched 
against  Pharnaccs,  son  of  Mithridates,  who  had  taken 
advantage  of  the  civil  war  to  conquer  the  kingdom  of  Pontus 
and  invade  Asia  Minor.  This  war  lasted  only  five  days,  and 
was  described  by  Caesar  in  the  famous  phrase,  *'  Veni,  vidi, 
vici"  (47  B.C.). 

Returning  he  found  that  Rome  had  just  emerged  from  a 
state  of  riot  with  a  considerable  loss  of  life.  He  himself 
quelled  a  military  riot,  caused  by  soldiers  quartered  in 
Campania  who  had  come  to  Rome  to  claim  their  discharge 
and  the  rewards  promised  them.  Caesar  assembled  the 
rebels  on  the  Campus  Martins  and  addressed  them  with 
severity,  saying:  "  You  are  free.  Go,  Quirites."  (Citizens 
outside  of  the  army  were  called  Quirites.)  The  soldiers  felt 
the  general's  reproach  keenly  and  begged  for  pardon. 

There  was  still  an  army  of  sixty  thousand  men  in  Africa, 
commanded  by  the  senatorial  party  and  maintained  by  Juba, 
king  of  the  Numidians.  This  army  had  defeated  two  legions 
sent  against  it  by  Caesar  in  49  B.C.,  and  now  threatened  to 
cross  into  Italy.  Caesar  decided  to  attack  it.  He  left  Rome 
in  the  winter  of  47  B.C.,  crossed  the  Mediterranean  with  five 
thousand  infantry  and  one  hundred  and  fifty  cavalry,  and 
without  baggage;  finding  himself  face  to  face  with  an  army 
of  ten  times  his  numbers,  he  dared  not  leave  the  protection 
of  his  camp.  At  the  end  of  two  months  reinforcements 
came,  and  he  besieged  Thapsus.  The  army  of  Pompeians 
offered  battle  to  deliver  the  city,  but  were  routed.      Many 


f 


END  OF  THE  REPUBLIC.  249 

prisoners  were  massacred,  and  the  chiefs  killed  themselves^ 

(46  B.C.). 

Caesar  returned  to  Rome  and  celebrated  four  triumphs  at 
once,  commemorating  his  victories  over  Vercingetorix, 
Egypt,  Pharnaces,  and  Juba.  He  gave  the  people  a  banquet 
of  twenty-two  thousand  tables,  each  with  three  couches, 
distributed  five  thousand  denarii  (1000  dollars)  to  each 
soldier,  and  to  each  citizen  one  hundred  denarii  (20  dollars), 
ten  bushels  of  grain,  and  ten  pounds  of  oil. 

The  last  war  took  place  in   Spain.      Pompey's  son  had 
formed  thirteen  legions  of  the  soldiers  belonging  to  Pompey's 
former  Spanish  legions,  the  remnant  of  the  army  in  Africa, 
and  a  following  of  adventurers  and  freedmen.     Caesar  left 
for   Spain    in    46  b.c,   arriving   in  Corduba    (Cordova)    in 
twenty-seven  days.     The  enemy  evaded  a  battle,  and  Caesar 
had  to  waste  the  whole  winter  in  a  campaign  of  skirmishes. 
This  was  finally  ended  in  the  spring  by  the  battle  of  Munda, 
in  which  the  enemies*  army  was  routed   and   slaughtered. 
Sextus  Pompeius  was  captured  and  killed  (45  b.c). 
This  was  the  end  of  resistance  to  Caesar. 
Caesar *s Dictatorship,  Reforms,  and  Projects. — In  49  b.c. 
Caesar  became  master  of  Rome,  and  so  remained  for  four 
and    a  half  years.      He  abolished  none  of  the  established 
powers,  but  preserved  the  magistrates,  senate, 
and  assembly  of  the  people.      He  had,  how- 
ever, secured  for  himself  the  title  of  dictator 
(with  a  master  of  the  horse  chosen  by  him- 
self), first  for  one  year,  then  (46  b.c.)  for  ten 
years,   and    finally  for  life.      His  power  was 
thus  superior  to  all  others.      He  secured  the   oesar  as  perpet- 

•L.^J-J  ..•  C  J  UAL   DICTATOR. 

right  to  decide  questions  of  peace  and  war, 

the  power  of  the  tribuneship,  and  the  appointment  of  half 

the  magistrates.     The  people  elected  the  other  half  of  the 

'  The  descendant  of  the  old  C  ito  killed  himself  at  Utica,  gaining 
thereby  the  name  of  Cato  of  Utica,  under  which  he  has  held  a  place  in 
history. 


250  THE  ROMAN  PEOPLE. 

magistrates,  but  could  not  vote  for  a  candidate  unless  he  was 
approved  by  Caesar,  He  secured  also  XSm^  prcB/eciura  mormu, 
the  power  of  censorship,  with  the  right  to  control  the  list  of 
senators  and  citizens.  Many  senators  having  perished  in 
the  civil  war,  Caesar  appointed  others  in  such  numbers  that 
the  senate  was  increased  to  nine  hundred  members.  These 
new  appointments  included  a  number  of  provincials,  notably 
Gauls.  The  Romans  made  sport  of  these  strangers.  Some 
one  put  up  a  placard  about  Rome  which  read:  "Please  do 
not  show  the  new  senators  the  way  to  the  Curia  (senate 
chamber)." 

The  senate  decreed  special  honors  for  Caesar:  a  bronze 
statue,  the  right  to  wear  a  crown  of  laurel,  an  annual  public 
holiday  dedicated  to  him,  a  golden  chair,  a  purple  robe,  and 
the  title  of  Father  of  the  Country;  in  the  senate  he  sat 
between  the  two  consuls  on  a  curule  chair  raised  above  the 
rest;  his  image  was  stamped  on  the  coinage. 

There  were  many  people  at  Rome  who  thought  that 
Caesar  desired  the  title  of  king.  In  44  b.c,  during  the  feast 
of  the  Lupercalia,  Caesar  was  seated  on  the  rostrum  before 
the  assembled  masses  in  the  Forum.  Antony,  who  was 
consul  at  the  time,  presented  him  with  a  diadem  formerly 
worn  by  the  kings  of  the  East.  Some  of  the  attendants 
applauded,  but  the  crowd  seemed  dissatisfied.  Caesar  raised 
his  hand  and  removed  the  diadem,  and  the  crowd  applauded. 
Antony  presented  it  once  more,  but  Caesar  was  now  sure  of 
the  people's  feelings,  and  he  refused  it,  ordering  it  to  be 
placed  on  the  statue  of  Jupiter  on  the  Capitol. 

Caesar's  mind  was  occupied  with  his  wars,  and  he  remained 
in  Rome  but  fifteen  months  altogether.  He  made  a  number 
of  reforms. 

He  established  his  veterans  (eighty  thousand,  it  is  said) 
as  colonists  in  the  districts  of  Italy  that  had  been  depopu- 
lated by  the  war. 

He  made  out  a  defmite  list  of  all  citizens  who  were  entitled 
to  the  distribution  of  grain,  reducing  the  number  from  three 


END   OF   THE  REPUBLIC. 


251 


hundred   and   twenty  thousand   to   one    hundred   and   fifty 
thousand. 

He   reformed    the    calendar.       The    Roman    montn    was 


TOMB    OF    CESTIUS,    BtHLT  IN    THK   TIME     OF   C^SAR. 

calculated  by  the  course  of  the  moon,  so  that  twelve  months 
did  not  make  a  year,  but  only  three  hundred  and  fifty-five 
days.  It  was  the  custom  to  fill  up  the  extra  days  from  time 
to  time  by  intercalations,  but  f^uring  the  disturbances 
through  which  Rome  had  just  passed  this  had  been  neglected 


252  THE  ROMAN  PEOPLE, 

and  there  was  a  surplus  of  sixty-seven  days  to  be  disposed 
of.  Caesar,  on  the  advice  of  Egyptian  astronomers,  decided 
that  the  year  45  b.c.  should  have  four  hundred  and  forty-five 
days.  This  was  "  the  last  year  of  the  confusion. "  Hence- 
forth the  year,  regulated  by  the  course  of  the  sun,  should 
have  three  hundred  and  sixty-five  and  a  quarter  days.  This 
is  the  Julian  Calendar.^ 

Caesar  had  many  other  projects  in  mind.  He  wished  to 
establish  a  library  at  Rome,  and  a  port  at  Ostia,  to  pierce 
the  isthmus  of  Corinth,  drain  the  Pontine  Marshes^  and 
change  the  course  of  the  Tiber.  He  planned  also  to  fight 
the  Parthians,  and  had  already  collected  an  army. 

Murder  of  Caesar  (44  b.c). — There  was  more  or  less  dis- 
content among  the  Roman  nobles,  even  those  who  belonged 
to  Caesar's  party  and  had  received  from  him  appointment 
as  magistrates  and  senators.  They  chafed  under  the  control 
of  a  master  so  much  more  powerful  than  they.  CcCfar 
seemed  to  them  a  tyrant  who  had  destroyed  the  old  consti- 
tution and  was  preparing  to  become  king. 

Sixteen  of  these  malcontents  arranged  to  rid  fhemselves 
of  Caesar  by  assassination.  The  chief  conspirators  were  two 
praetors,  Cassius,  the  man  who  saved  Syria  from  the  Parthian 
invasion,  and  Brutus,  who  claimed  descent  from  the  Brutus 
that  had  expelled  the  last  king  of  Rome.  Brutus  was 
especially  beloved  by  Caesar. 

It  was  said  that  Brutus  had  been  drawn  into  the  plot  as  a 
means  of  doing  honor  to  his  ancestor.  Each  morning  brought 
him  anonymously  some  such  word  as  this  :  "  You  sleep,  Brutus, 
and  Rome  is  in  chains,"  or :  "  No,  this  is  not  Brutus." 

The  conspirators  decided  to  kill  Caesar  in  the  senate 
chamber  on  the  Ides  of  March.  Cassius  wanted  to  kill  the 
consul  Antony  also,  but  Brutus  refused,  desiring  to  smite 
only  the  tyrant. 

Some  say  that  Caesar  was  warned;  a  paper  was  handed  to  him 
as  he  left  his  house,  with  a  request  to  rend  it  alone  and  quickly; 

'  The  month  of  July  took  Caesar's  name,  Juluis;  before  this  it  had 
been  called  Quintilis,  the  fifth. 


END  OF  THE  REPUBLIC.  2  53 

he  was  disturbed,  however  and  reached  the  senate  without  hav- 
ing had  time  to  do  so.  Others  say  his  wife  had  a  bad  dream 
and  begged  him  not  to  leave  the  house  that  day.  There  is  also 
a  story  that  a  soothsayer  had  told  him  to  beware  the  Ides  of 
March.  Caesar  met  him  that  day  and  said  to  him  mockingly, 
"  Well,  the  Ides  of  March  are  here,"  and  the  soothsayer  replied, 
"  Yes,  but  they  are  not  yet  gone." 

Caesar  entered   the  senate  on   the  appointed   day.     The 

conspirators    were    already    grouped    about    his    seat,    with 

daggers  hidden  in  their  rcbes.     Caesar  seated  himself,  and 

while  one  of  the  conspirators  besought  him  for  a  pardon  for 

his  brother,  the  rest  surrounded  him,  drew  their  daggers  and 

killed  him. 

At  first  Caesar  tried  to  defend  himself,  but  when  he  saw  his 
favorite  Brutus  raise  his  hand  against  him  hecritd,  "And  thou 
too,  Brutus!"  and,  covering  his  face  with  his  toga,  made  no 
further  resistance.     He  received  twenty-three  wounds. 

The  senators  fled  from  the  hall.  The  conspirators  ran  to 
the  Forum  and  showed  their  bloody  daggers,  crying  aloud 
that  the  tyrant  was  dead.  But  the  people  had  loved  Caesar 
and  they  pursued  his  slayers  with  threats,  so  that  these 
took  refuge  on  the  Capitol  with  a  troop  of  armed  men. 
A  number  of  senators  joined  them  there.  On  the  follow- 
ing day  Brutus  descended  to  the  Forum  and  addressed 
the  people.  They  listened  to  him,  but  when  another  of 
the  conspirators  began  to  abuse  Caesar,  they  drowned  his 
voice  with  their  cries.  The  conspirators  returned  to  the 
Capitol. 

Antony,  the  consul,  and  Lepidus,  the  master  of  the  horse, 
had  hidden  themselves  in  their  first  fright.  They  now  took 
courage.  Lepidus  left  Rome  and  returned  with  a  body  of 
Caesar's  veterans.  Antony  assumed  charge  of  Caesar's  papers 
and  money  (amounting  to  four  thousand  talents  =  2,000,000 
dollars)  and  the  public  treasury.  With  the  soldiers  and 
money,  Lepidus  and  Antony  were  masters  of  Rome  and 
decided  to  take  action  together  against  the  conspirators. 
Antony  summoned  the  senate  to  a  hall  surrounded  by 
soldiers.     The    senators    were   at    first  inclined   to    declare 


254  THE  ROMAN  PEOPLE. 

Caesar  a  tyrant  and  his  acts  abolished;  this  would  have 
included  the  discharge  of  all  officials  appointed  by  him. 
Cicero  proposed  and  the  senate  agreed  to  vote  at  once  for 
amnesty  for  Caesar's  murderers  and  ratification  of  his  acts 
(adding:  for  the  good  of  the  republic). 

Antony  had  Caesar's  will  read  to  the  people.  He  left  his 
fortune  to  his  nephew,  his  palace  and  gardens  to  the  people, 
and  a  small  sum  of  money  to  each  citizen.  These  generous 
provisions  rekindled  the  people's  wrath  against  the  mur- 
derers. 

Then  came  the  funeral  ceremonies.  The  funeral-pyre  had 
been  made  ready  on  the  Campus  Martius,  but  Antony  had 
the  body  laid  out  on  an  ivory  couch  in  the  Forum  and 
addressed  the  people  from  the  rostrum.  The  crowd  became 
excited,  set  fire  to  the  senate  chamber  and,  tearing  down 
the  rostrum  and  benches,  heaped  up  the  debris  together  with 
their  javelins  in  an  improvised  pyre,  and  burned  the  body  of 
Caesar  in  the  Forum. 

The  conspirators  hastened  from  Rome,  Cassius  to  Syria, 
Brutus  to  Macedonia.  Another  of  them,  Decimus  Brutus, 
was  already  in  his  province.  Cisalpine  Gaul. 

A  war  ensued  between  the  two  parties,  the  friends  of 
Caesar  and  his  murderers. 

Octavius. — Octavius,  the  son  of  Caesar's  sister  and  his 
heir,  was  a  young  man  of  nineteen,  delicate,  pale,  and  not 
overbrave,  but  ambitious  and  prudent.  His  uncle  had 
already  made  him  senator,  then  pontiff.  He  was  in  Epirus 
at  this  critical  time.  He  came  back  to  Rome  and  declared 
Caesar's  will  accepted,  whereby  he  was  adopted  as  heir.  ^ 
Antony  had  taken  possession  of  the  money  and  refused  to 
give  it  up,  declining  to  render  an  account  to  so  young  a 
man.  Octavius  sold  Caesar's  estates  and  all  his  own  posses- 
sions, and  borrowed  enough  additional  money  to  maintain 
an   army  of  ten  thousand   men  at  his  own  expense      His 

^  Henceforth  he  bore  his  uncle's  name,  calling  himself  Gaius  Julius 
C«sar  Octavianus, 


END   OF   THE  REPUBLIC.  255 

soldiers  were  almost  all  men  who  had  served  under  Caesar, 
and  he  promised  each  two  thousand  sesterces  (one  hundred 
dollars).  Antony  promised  only  four  hundred,  and  two  of 
his  legions  passed  over  to  Octavius. 

Decimus  Brutus,  one  of  the  conspirators,  was  in  Cisalpine 
Gaul  with  his  army.  Antony  went  to  besiege  him  in  Mutina 
(44  B.C.). 

Octavius  placed  himself  at  the  service  of  the  senate. 
Cicero  spoke  earnestly  in  his  favor  and  pronounced  against 
Antony  a  number  of  discourses  which  he  called  Philippics, 
in  memory  of  the  orations  of  Demosthenes  against  Philip. 
The  senate  gave  Octavius  the  powers  of  a  consul,  and 
charged  him  to  go  with  the  two  consuls  and  relieve  Mutina. 
Antony  was  defeated  and  fled,  and  the  two  consuls  were 
killed  (43  B.C.). 

The  senate,  feeling  no  further  need  of  Octavius,  rescinded 
his  powers  and  even  refused  him  a  triumph  and  the  money 
he  required  to  pay  his  soldiers. 

Triumvirate  of  Octavius,  Antony,  and  Lepidus. — 
Octavius  abandoned  the  senatorial  party,  came  to  Rome 
with  his  army  and  was  elected  consul;  he  took  from  the 
treasury  the  money  he  had  promised  his  soldiers,  and  insti- 
tuted proceedings  against  the  murderers  of  Caesar. 

Lepidus  and  the  governors  of  Spain  and  Gaul  had  mean- 
while joined  Antony,  together  with  their  troops;  Antony 
returned  to  Italy  with  twenty-three  legions.  Octavius, 
Lepidus,  and  Antony  resolved  to  take  joint  action  against 
the  conspirators.  They  met  in  a  little  island  in  the  middle 
of  a  river  near  Bologna,  and,  each  first  securing  himself  with 
great  care  against  the  other,  they  devoted  three  days  to 
making  their  arrangements.  They  then  read  the  plan  to 
their  armies,  and,  gaining  their  approval,  all  marched 
on  Rome  together.  There  they  secured  the  consent  of  the 
people  to  what  they  had  already  agreed  upon  among  them- 
selves. 

They  were  appointed  "triumvirs  to  organize  the  repub- 


256  THE  ROMAN  PEOPLE. 

lie,"  with  absolute  power  for  five  years. ^  They  were  allowed 
to  take  from  the  treasury  enough  money  to  give  each  of  their 
soldiers  five  thousand  denarii.  A  new  law  created  eighteen 
colonies  of  veterans  in  Italy;  that  is  to  say,  the  inhabitants 
of  eighteen  Italian  towns  were  forced  to  give  up  their  lands 
\o  veterans. 

The  triumvirs  published  proscription  lists.  Whosesoever 
name  was  entered  there  must  die,  and  a  reward  was  paid 
for  his  head.  Each  of  the  triumvirs  had  placed  on  the  list 
the  names  of  his  personal  enemies.  Antony  had  included 
Cicero,  whom  he  detested  on  account  of  the  Philippics. 
Cicero  had  already  fled,  but  was  captured  and  killed;  his 
head  was  brought  to  Antony,  who  had  it  set  up  on  the  ros- 
trum in  the  Forum. 

We  are  told  that  Antony  gazed  long  at  the  head  in  fits  of 
laughter,  and  that  his  wife  Fulvia  amused  herself  with  sticking 
pins  into  the  tongue  which  had  so  lashed  her  husband. 

The  triumvirs  were  masters  of  Rome  and  of  the  west,  but 
the  conspirators  held  all  the  east;  Cassius  was  in  Asia  and 
Brutus  in  Macedonia,  each  with  a  great  army.  The  general 
sent  against  Cassius  had  been  surrounded  and  had  killed 
himself. 

Antony  and  Octavius  entered  Macedonia  with  a  force  of 
eighty  thousand  infantry  and  twenty  thousand  cavalry. 
Cassius  joined  Brutus  and  they  camped  on  the  great  plain  of 
Philippi,  in  communication  with  the  sea,  by  which  they 
received  their  provisions.  The  army  of  the  triumvirs  was 
short  of  supplies.  Cassius  desired  to  avoid  a  battle,  hoping 
that  the  enemy's  army  might  die  of  starvation.  But  Brutus 
was  disturbed  by  seeing  his  soldiers  desert  to  the  other 
army,  and  he  decided  to  fight. 

Two  battles  took  place  at  Philippi.  In  the  first  Brutus 
routed  Octavius,  while  Antony  surrounded  Cassius  and  took 
his  camp.     Cassius  killed  himself.     In  the  second  engage- 

1  This  was  a  new  title;  Caesar,  Pompey,  and  Crassus  did  not  call 
themselves  triumvirs  ofificially. 


END  OF  THE  REPUBLIC,  257 

ment  the  soldiers  of  Cassius  fled,  and  the  army  of  Brutus 
was  crushed.  Brutus  followed  the  example  of  Cassius 
(42  B.C.)  and  put  an  end  to  himself. 

The  triumvirs  shared  the  provinces:  Lepidus  took  Africa; 
Octavius  remained  in  Italy  to  distribute  the  lands  promised 
to  the  yeterans;  Antony  went  to  the  East  to  raise  the  money 
promised  to  the  soldiers. 

This  was  a  time  of  distress.  The  distribution  of  land 
ruined  a  part  of  Italy.  The  landowners,  deprived  of  their 
property,  either  wandered  away  without  means  of  support, 
or  else  offered  resistance.  The  eighteen  towns  sacrificed  to 
the  veterans  were,  besides,  not  enough  for  all  of  them. 
The  treasury  was  empty;  the  country  was  ruined  and  could 
pay  no  more  taxes. 

Rome  herself  was  suffering  from  famine.  During  the  last 
wars  Sextus  Pompeius,  a  son  of  the  former  great  Pompey, 
who  had  taken  refuge  in  Sicily,  had  formed  a  fleet.  He 
ruled  the  sea  and  allowed  no  ships  to  bring  grain  to  Rome 
from  Sicily  and  Africa.     Bread  riots  began  in  Rome. 

Now  that  Antony  and  Octavius  were  rid  of  their  common 
enemies  they  began  to  quarrel  with  each  other.  Antony's 
wife  and  brother  attempted  to  incite  a  war  in  Italy,  and 
when  Antony  returned  from  the  East  to  raise  troops  for  the 
Parthian  war,  Octavius  wished  to  arrest  him.  But  their 
soldiers  did  not  want  to  fight  one  another  and  the*  chiefs 
were  forced  to  a  reconciliation  at  Brundisium.  Antony 
married  Octavia,  sister  of  Octavius,  and  divided  the  provinces 
with  his  brother-in-law  (40  B.C.). 

The  Romans  then  obliged  both  of  them  to  make  peace 
with  Sextus  Pompeius.  They  had  an  interview  with  him  at 
Misenum,  on  the  coast,  and  promised  him  command  of  the 
fleet  and  the  coast,  in  addition  to  the  consulship  and  the 
government  of  Greece  (39  b.c).  This  arrangement  did  not 
last  long.  Antony  refused  to  give  up  Greece  to  Pompey; 
Octavius  took  Sardinia  from  him  by  treachery,  and  then 
attacked  him  in  Sicily  and  destroyed  his  fleet.     Pompey  fled 


258  THE  ROMAN  PEOPLE. 

to  Asia,  but  was  captured  and  put  to  death  in  35  b.c.  His 
army  remained  at  Messina.  Lepidus  assumed  command  of 
it,  intending  to  keep  Sicily  for  himself.  When  Octavius 
came  to  the  camp,  all  the  soldiers  joined  him,  and  Lepidus, 
abandoned  by  his  soldiers,  asked  pardon  of  Octavius,  and 
was  allowed  to  retain  his  fortune.  , 

There  were  now  only  two  masters,  Octavius  in  the  west, 
Antony  in  the  east. 

Antony  and  Cleopatra. — On  arriving  in  Asia,  Antony 
had  fallen  under  the  spell  of  Cleopatra,  queen  of  Egypt. 
She  was  a  small  woman,  endowed  with  great  beauty, 
brilliancy,  and  fascination.  She  had  earlier  won  Caesar's 
heart  and  had  by  him  a  son  named  Caesarion. 

She  had  given  aid  to  Brutus  and  Cassius,  and  Antony 
summoned  her  to  Tarsus  to  give  her  an  opportunity  to 
justify  herself.  She  came,  and  Antony  fell  victim  to  her 
charms. 

Their  first  interview  is  described  in  this  fashion  :  Cleopatra 
arrived  in  a  barge  with  purple  sails,  silver  oars,  and  golden  stern, 
moving  to  the  music  of  flutes  and  lyres.  The  queen  herself,  in 
the  guise  of  Venus,  reclined  under  a  gold-embroidered  pavilion, 
surrounded  by  cliildren  as  Cupids  ;  her  women,  attired,  as 
nymphs,  held  the  tiller  and  the  ropes.  The  odor  of  burning  per- 
fumes filled  the  air.  The  people  who  gathered  to  behold  this 
spectacle  said  that  Venus  was  coming  to  visit  Bacchus.  Cleo- 
patra had  her  barge  brilliantly  lighted  by  torches,  and  enter- 
tained Antony  at  supper. 

Antony  was  immediately  fascinated  by  Cleopatra  and  fol- 
lowed her  to  Alexandria,  where  they  spent  several  months 
together. 

Cleopatra,  it  is  said,  never  left  Antony's  side.  She  drank  and 
played  with  him,  and  accompanied  him  to  the  hunt  and  even 
to  his  military  exercises.  When  he  sought  amusement  by  night 
in  the  streets  of  Alexandria,  disguised  as  a  servant,  she  followed 
him  in  a  similar  disguise,  both  meeting  with  more  or  less  rough 
treatment. 

They  founded  a  society  whose  aim  was  to  be  as  extravagant 
as  possible.  In  Antony's  kitchen  there  were  eight  wild  boars 
on  the  spit  at  one  time,  so  that  one  might  always  be  ready  when 
tlie  master  should  order  dinner.     Cleopatra  found  a  method  of 


END  OF  THE  REPUBLIC. 


259 


spending  an  immense  sum  at  one  meal,  by  dissolving  in  vinegar 
a  pearl  of  great  price  and  drinking  it. 

Antony  had  to  interrupt  this  life  of  pleasure  to  return  to 
Italy  in  search  of  troops,  for  the  Parthians,  aided  by  a 
Roman  general  of  Pompey's  party,  had  invaded  Syria.  One 
of  Antony's  lieutenants  expelled  the  invaders  (40-38  b.c). 


COIN   OF   ANTONY   AND   CLEOPATRA. 


Antony  joined  Cleopatra  in  Syria,  where  he  left  her  again  to 
attack  the  Parthians;  on  his  way  back  he  was  pursued  by 
the  Parthian  cavalry  and  lost  twenty  thousand  men. 

Antony  had  already  forbidden  his  wife  Octavia,  sister  of 
Octavius,  to  join  him  in  the  East.  He  returned  to  Cleopatra 
in  Alexandria,  and  assumed  the  costume  of  an  eastern  king, 
a  purple  robe  and  a  diadem.  He  ordered  a  new  coinage 
bearing  the  heads  of  Antony  and  Cleopatra. 

He  had  two  golden  thrones  prepared,  one  for  himself  and 
one  for  Cleopatra,  and  before  the  assembled  multitude  pro- 
claimed Cleopatra  queen  of  kings,  and  her  two  young  sons 
kings  of  kings.  -  He  declared  that  he  would  give  to  one  of 
them  Armenia,  Media,  and  the  kingdom  of  the  Parthians; 
to  the  other  Syria,  Cilicia,  and  PhcEnicia.  For  the  first  time 
a  Roman  general  was  distributing  Roman  provinces  among 
foreign  princes. 

Battle  of  Actium. — Antony's  conduct  gave  rise  to  such 
scandal  in  Rome  that  even  his  own  party  deserted  him. 
Octavius,  in  the  senate,  accused  him  of  dishonoring  the 
name  of  Roman.  He  obtained  hold  of  Antony's  will  and 
read  to  the  senate  the  passages  reaffirming  the  gift  of  the 


26o  THE  ROMAN  PEOPLt. 

kingdoms  to  Cleopatra's  sons,  and  gave  orders  that  his  body 
should  not  be  brought  back  to  Rome,  but  buried  at 
Alexandria  in  the  same  tomb  with  the  queen.  There  was  a 
report  that  Cleopatra  was  already  talking  of  the  day  when 
she  should  be  mistress  of  the  Capitol. 

When  Octavius  had  completed  his  preparations  he  declared 
war,  against,  not  Antony,  but  Cleopatra,  queen  of  Egypt 
(32  B.C.).  This  was  a  war  of  East  against  West.  Antony 
had  ready  a  fleet  of  five  hundred  ships  and  an  army  of  one 
hundred  thousand  infantry  and  twelve  thousand  cavalry. 
He  spent  the  winter  in  Greece  with  Cleopatra,  meaning  to 
move  against  Italy  in  the  spring.  To  his  surprise  Octavius 
landed  in  Greece  and  began  to  attack  him. 

For  some  time  the  two  armies  remained  facing  each  other, 
near  the  coast  of  Epirus.  Antony's  army  being  larger,  his 
generals  advised  him  to  fight  on  land,  but  Cleopatra  favored 
a  naval  battle,  and  Antony  yielded  to  her  wish. 

The  Egyptians  had  five  hundred  galleys,  mainly  quin- 
queremes  (having  five  banks  of  rowers,  although  some  had 
seven  and  eight);  they  were  high  and  massive,  heavy  and 
awkward.  There  were  not  enough  rowers  for  all,  so  Antony, 
it  is  said,  had  one  hundred  and  forty  of  them  burned. 
Octavius'  ships  were  only  two  hundred  in  number  and 
smaller,  having  but  two  or  three  banks  of  rowers,  but  they 
were  much  lighter  and  were  manned  by  trained  sailors. 

The  battle  took  place  before  the  promontory  of  Actium 
on  September  2,  31  b.c.  Antony's  fleet  advanced  from  the 
strait  to  the  open  sea.  Octavius'  fleet  attacked  the  clumsy 
Egyptian  vessels  one  by  one,  surrounding  them  and  hurling 
red-hot  arrows  and  javelins  at  them.  All  at  once  sixty 
Egyptian  ships  were  seen  to  make  sail  and  depart  southward. 
Cleopatra  had  fled  from  the  scene  of  battle.  Antony  could 
no  longer  live  without  her  and  he  followed  her  to  Alex- 
andria. 

Antony's  army,  abandoned  by  its  chief,  decided  to  join 
Octavius,  and  the  war  was  at  an  end. 


END  OF  THE  REPUBLIC.  261 

Octavius  followed  Antony  to  Alexandria,   but  the  latter, 

finding  his  army  lost,  killed  himself.     Cleopatra  was  captured 

in  a  tower  where  she  had  taken  refuge.      Octavius  wanted 

to  keep  her  to  grace  his  triumph,  but  some  days  later  she 

was  found  dead  in  her  bed. 

We  are  told  that  Cleopatra  had  tried  to  ensnare  Octavius. 
She  received  him  in  a  room  adorned  with  busts  of  Caesar, 
.showed  him  letters  written  by  Caesar,  and  spoke  to  him  of  the 
glories  of  Caesar.  Octavius  heard  her  without  a  look  or  word  ; 
when  she  had  finished  he  said,  "  Woman,  be  of  good  courage." 
Learning  that  she  was  to  be  taken  to  Rome  in  a  few  days, 
Cleopatra  cried,  "  No  !  I  will  never  be  led  to  Rome  in  triumph," 
and  determined  to  commit  suicide.  She  was  closely  watched 
to  prevent  her  killing  herself,  but  she  had  a  basket  of  figs 
brought  to  her,  in  which  was  concealed  an  asp,  a  little  poison- 
ous snake,  which  killed  her. 

Octavius  put  Cleopatra's  sons  to  death,  and  distributed 
her  treasure  among  his  soldiers. 

End  of  Republican  Government. — Octavius,  who  was 
now  the  only  remaining  general,  became  sole  master  of  the 
empire.  His  powers  as  triumvir  had  expired,  but  he  retained 
the  authority  without  need  of  the  title. 

He  returned  to  Rome  (29  B.C.)  and  closed  the  temple  of 
Janus  in  token  of  peace.  He  was  received  with  enthusiasm, 
for  every  one  was  tired  of  civil  war  and  rejoiced  at  the  pros- 
pect of  peace.  The  price  of  land  doubled,  and  interest  on 
money  went  down  from  twelve  to  four  per'cent. 

The  senate  ordered  the  people  to' include  the  conqueror's 
name  in  their  prayers,  and  to  swear  allegiance  to  him,  at  the 
same  time  giving  him  the  right  to  have  a  crown  and  laurel 
branches  before  his  house.  He  became  "  prince  of  the 
senate,"  an  honorary  title  borne  by  the  senator  of  highest 
dignity. 

Octavius  took  the  census,  which  had  not  been  done  since 
the  year  70  b.c.  He  reduced  the  number  of  senators,  and 
struck  from  the  list  of  knights  all  those  whose  fortune  was 
insufficient.  The  total  number  of  citizens  was  four  millions, 
against  four  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  in  'jo;  but  since  that 


262  THE  ROMAN  PEOHLE, 

time  all  the  inhabitants  of  Gaul  as  far  as  the  Alps  had 
become  citizens. 

Octavius  gave  his  power  back  to  the  senate  when  the  work 
was  done.  The  senate  begged  him  to  retain  it,  and  gave 
him  command  of  all  the  armies  and  the  power  of  a  proconsul 
over  the  provinces,  with  the  title  of  Imperator.  A  new  title 
was  then  invented  for  him,  Augustus,  or  Venerable,  and  this 
became  his  name  {i']  b.c. ). 

The  old  governing  bodies,  magistrates,  assembly,  and 
senate,  were  not  suppressed,  but  Augustus,  the  emperor  and 
head  of  the  army,  had  practically  absolute  authority.  The 
republican  government  of  senate  and  people  gave  place  to 
imperial  government. 

SOURCES. 

Appian Civil  Wars,  Bk.  il,  c.  v-Bk.  v,  c.  xiv. 

Augustus Deeds  of  Augustus,  §§  r,  2. 

Caesar , Comnietitaries  oft  the  Civil  Wars. 

Cicero Philippics  ;  Letters,  passim. 

Eutropius Bk.  vi,  §§  19-25. 

Florus Bk.  i v,  cc.  ii-xi. 

Hirtius Alexandrine,  African,  and  Spanish  Wars. 

Livy Epit.  cix-cxxxiii. 

Paterculus Bk.  11,  §§  48-87. 

Plutarch Brutus,  Antony, 

Suetonius Ccesar. 

PARALLEL  READING. 

Duruy. cc.  Ivi-lxi,  Ixiv, 

Merivale cc.  xiii-xxviii. 

Mommsen Bk.  V,  cc.  ix-xii. 

Botsford c.  viii,  pp.  1 87-202. 

How  and  Leigh   ...   cc.  1-lii. 

Morey c.  xxi,  p.  195-c.  xxii. 

Myers c.  xiv,  pp.  252-31 1. 

Pelham Bk.  i v,  c.  iii,  p.  324-Bk.  v,  c.  ii. 

Sbuckburgh. . . c.  xiv,  xlvi. 

Long Decline  of  the  Rontafi  Republic. 

Abbott c.  vii. 

Greenidge    c.  ix. 

Taylor Constitutional    and   Political   History   of 

Rome,  c.  xvi-xvii. 


CHAPTER    XVIII. 
THE    EMPIRE. 

Augustus. — Augustus  governed  for  forty  years  more,  and 
had  time  to  organize  the  whole  imperial  system.  His  power 
equalled  that  of  an  absolute  king,  but  he  was  always  careful 
to  avoid  not  only  the  title  of  king  or  even  dictator,  but  also 
the  bearing  of  a  sovereign.  Doubtless  he  feared  that  if,  like 
Caesar,  he  assailed  the  Roman  customs  he  would  meet  with 
a  similar  fate. 

He  conducted  himself  always  as  a  simple  magistrate.  At 
Rome  he  wore  only  the  toga,  although  entitled  to  a  general's 
mantle.  He  refused  to  be  called  "master"  or  "lord." 
In  the  senate  he  sat  and  voted  like  a  senator.  He  was  very 
ill  in  the  year  23  b.c,  and  again  offered  to  resign  his  power, 
but  consented  to  retain  it.  He  used  to  go  in  person  to  the 
assembly  of  the  people  and  present  his  list  of  candidates, 
urging  the  people  to  vote  for  them.  He  attended  the  courts 
as  an  ordinary  witness,  and  permitted  the  lawyers  to  speak 
ill  of  him. 

He  lived  simply,  lodging  in  his  home  on  the  Palatine  hill, 
and  wearing  woolen  garments  woven  by  the  women  of  his 
house,  in  accordance  with  ancient  custom;  at  table  he  ate 
moderately  of  simple  food.  He  attended  dinners  in  the  city 
without  escort.  His  house  was  without  formality,  like  that 
of  a  private  citizen,  and  he  gave  audience  to  every  citizen 
who  had  a  request  to  make  of  him. 

To  a  citizen  who  came  trembling  to  present  a  petition 
Augustus  said  :  "  You  act  as  if  you  were  offering  a  piece  of 
money  to  an  elephant." 

263 


264 


THE  ROMAN  PEOPLE. 


Augustus  had  no  sons,  but  he  was  surrounded  by  a 
family  which  at  first  was  sufficiently  numerous:  his  sister 
Octavia,  widow  of  Antony ;  his  wife  Livia,  and  Tiberius  and 
Drusus,  her  two  sons  by  a  previous  marriage;  his  daughter 


Julia  and  his  nephew  Marcellus.  He  married  his  daughter 
to  his  nephew,  and  made  Marcellus  consul  and  his  associate 
in  the  government.  Marcellus  was  to  have  been  his  suc- 
cessor, but  he  died  while  still  in  his  youth  (23  b  c). 

Agrippa,  a  life-long  friend  of  Augustus,  had  assisted  him  in 
governing  during  his  triumvirate,  fitted  out  and  commanded 
his  fleet,  supervised  the  new  works  for  the  adornment  of  the 


20 Longitude 10 


10  Longitude 


THE  GROWTH 

of  the 

ROMAN  DOMINION 

from 

THE  GRACCHI  to  the  Death  of  AUGUSTUS. 

133  B.  C.  to  14  A.  D. 

-       SCALE  OF  WILES 
0  100         200         300         400         600  000 


Roman  Power  in  133  B.  ( 
I  Acquired  133  B.  C-  14  A 
Allies  of  Rome,  14  A .  D. 


30  from  40  Greenwich  50 


ENSRAVED   BY   SORMAY  «   CO.,    N.Y. 


THE  EMPIRE.  265 

city,  and  organized  the  administration.  Augustus  gave  him 
his  daughter  in  marriage  and  appointed  him  his  successor. 
Agrippa  died  in  the  year  12,  leaving  two  sons,  and  was 
buried  in  the  tomb  Augustus  had  had  prepared  for  himself. 

One  of  the  stepsons,  Drusus,  who  had  already  won  fame 
through  his  victories,  was  killed  at  the  age  of  thirty  by  a  fall 
from  his  horse  (9  B.C.).  The  other,  Tiberius,  became  the 
leading  member  of  the  family,  and  was  forced  by  Augustus 
to  marry  Julia,  who  had  already  been  married  twice  and  was 
notorious  for  her  infamous  conduct.  The  succession  he 
wished  to  give  to  his  two  grandsons,  Caius  and  Julius,  the 
children  of  Agrippa  and  Julia;  he  adopted  them  and  had 
them  elected  prospective  consuls.  Tiberius  chafed  at  being 
sacrificed  for  these  children,  and  refused  to  remain  in  Rome. 
When  Augustus  tried  to  persuade  him  to  sta}'  he  threatened 
to  starve  himself,  and  went  to  Rhodes,  where  he  spent  seven 
years. 

The  two  grandsons  died  (2  and  4  a. d. ),  and  having  only 
Tiberius  left,  Augustus  adopted  him  and  took  him  as  his 
colleague. 

Augustus  was  weak  and  ill  and  had  no  more  love  for 
hunting  or  for  war.  He  had  resigned  the  actual  command 
of  the  armies,  confiding  them  ordinarily  to  .some  member  of 
his  family,  Agrippa,  Tiberius,  or  Drusus. 

In  his  seventy-seventh  year  Augustus  fell  ill  while  journey- 
ing through  Campania.  He  sent  for  Tiberius  and  advised 
him  concerning  the  conduct  of  the  government;  then  he 
died  (14  A,D.). 

A  moment  before  his  death  he  asked  for  a  mirror  and  ar- 
ranged his  hair.  Then  he  called  for  his  frieiids  and  said  to 
them  :  "  The  piece  is  ended  ;  have  I  played  my  part  well  }  "  add- 
ing in  Greek  :  "  If  you  are  pleased,  applaud,"  * 

His  body  was  burned  on  the  Campus  Martins,  and  Livia 
placed  his  ashes  in  a  monument.      The  senate  declared  that 

^  In  the  Greek  comedies  the  actor,  at  the  end  of  the  piece,  turned  io 
the  audience  and  said,    "Applaud." 


^66  THE  ROMAN  PEOPLE, 

Augustus  had  been  elevated  to  the  rank  of  the  gods,  and 
temples  and  priests  were  dedicated  to  the  ' '  divine  Augustus. " 

Organization  of  the  Imperial  Government. — The  govern- 
ment organized  by  Augustus  was  destined  to  last  almost 
three  centuries.  It  is  known  as  the  Principate  or  the  High 
Empire. 

Under  this  system  the  absolute  authority  was  vested  in 
one  man,  the  Emperor  {imperator^  he  who  has  the  imperium 
or  command).  The  emperor  bore  the  titles  of  Caesar  (the 
family  name  of  the  first  emperor  had  become  a  title  for  all 
his  successors)  and  Augustus  (the  Venerable).  He  was  also 
called  t\\Q  princeps,  or  the  first. 

The  emperor  united  in  himself  all  the  powers  that  had 
hitherto  belonged  to  the  magistrates  and  the  people. 

He  had  the  proconsular  power,  the  command  of  all  the 
armies  and  all  the  frontier  provinces,  consequently  the 
armed  force  of  the  empire. 

He  had  the  tribunitian  power,  the  direction  of  the  people 
in  Rome;  his  person  was  sacred  and  inviolable,  and  an 
injury  to  him  was  treason  to  the  Roman  people. 

He  was  pontifex  maximus,  director  of  all  religious  matters. 

He  had  the  power  though  not  the  formal  office  of  the 
censor,  and  the  supervision  of  manners  and  customs,  having 
control  of  the  list  of  senators,  knights,  and  citizens,  and 
giving  to  each  his  social  rank. 

He  had  the  right  to  convoke  the  senate  and  the  people, 
and  also  to  regulate  taxation  and  expenditure. 

He  had  the  right  to  pronounce  judgment  and  to  issue 
ordinances  (edicts)  and  rescripts  which  had  the  force  of 
law. 

Augustus  had  avoided  sudden  changes,  and  had  retained 
the  old  names.  The  state  still  called  itself  tespublica,  and 
the  military  standards  continued  to  bear  the  initials  S  P  Q  R 
(Senate  and  People  of  Rome — senatus  populusque  Romanus). 
But  he  had  centred  in  himself  the  powers  heretofore  shared 
among  the  magistrates,  and  instead  of  exercising  them  for  a 


THE  EMPIRE  267 

year,  he  held  them  for  life.  He  was  the  sole  magistrate  of 
the  Republic,  and  his  term  was  limited  only  by  death. 

He  bore  the  old  insignia  of  the  magistrates,  combined  with 
the  religious  emblems:  a  purple  robe  embroidered  with  gold 
and  a  golden  throne;  lictors  bearing  fasces  adorned  with 
laurel ;  a  cohort  (battalion)  of  soldiers  in  his  palace  and  a 
personal  escort  of  guards.  Prayers  for  his  welfare  were 
offered  to  the  gods  each  year.  All  the  citizens  took  the 
oath  of  allegiance  to  him. 

He  was  surrounded  by  a  sort  of  court;  companions  who 
were  called  the  "  friends  of  Augustus,"  a  council  which  he 
consulted  on  matters  of  business,  and  a  large  staff  of  clerks, 
both  slaves  and  freedmen,  divided  in  three  bureaux  for 
correspondence,  petitions,  and  accounts. 

The  senate  remained  the  same,  an  assembly  of  the  richest 
and  most  important  men  in  the  empire.  Augustus  had 
established  a  rule  that  a  senator,  must  possess  at  least  one 
million  sesterces  (50,000  dollars).  If  a  man  had  not  the 
necessary  amount,  he  gave  him  enough  to  complete  the  sum. 
He  retained  but  six  hundred  senators.  The  emperor 
appointed  them,  and  he  continued  the  practice  of  choosing 
them  from  among  former  magistrates. 

The  senate  met  on  certain  fixed  days,  in  a  temple  known 
as  the  Curia  Julia.  It  was  every  senator's  duty  to  take  part 
in  the  sittings,  all  being  obliged  to  offer  wine  and  incense 
on  the  altar  of  Victory.  The  emperor  sent  messages  to  be 
read  to  the  senate  and  consulted  it  on  affairs  of  state,  but  he 
was  not  obliged  to  follow  its  advice,  The  senate  remained 
the  highest  body  in  the  state,  but  was  no  longer  head  of  the 
government. 

The  comitia  was  not  abolished,  but  it  was  no  longer  ccm- 
voked  to  pass  laws.  Augustus  continued  to  entrust  it  with 
the  election  of  magistrates,  but  his  successor  transferred  this 
function  to  the  senate. 

The  old  magistracies  had  not  been  abolished,  and  Augustus 
had  established  the  order  in  which  they  should  be  exercised : 


268  THE  ROMAN  PEOPLE. 

first  quaestor,  then  aedile  or  tribune  of  the  people,  praetor, 
consul,  and  proconsul.  But  all  these  officers  were  subject 
to  the  superior  authority  of  the  emperor.  They  were 
elected,  to  be  sure,  but  the  emperor  designated  a  number  of 
candidates  who  must  be  elected,  while  for  the  other  offices 
he  recommended  candidates,  amounting  in  the  end  to  the 
same  thing.  So  in  fact,  then,  the  emperor  chose  all  the 
magistrates,^ 

The  Apotheosis. — The  emperor  was  master  throughout 
his  life.  After  his  death  his  power  was  at  an  end  and  he 
became  for  the  time  one  of  the  Roman  people  whose  repre- 
sentative, the  senate,  had  the  right  to  examine  into  his  acts. 
The  senate  might  "condemn  his  memory,"  in  which  case 
his  acts  were  declared  void,  his  orders  cancelled,  his  statues 
destroyed,  and  his  name  effaced  from  the  monuments. 
(Inscriptions  have  been  found  from  which  an  emperor's  name 
had  been  effaced  with  blows  of  a  mallet  )  But  this  rarely 
occurred. 

Ordinarily  the  senate  ratified  his  acts  and  decreed  that  the 
departed  emperor  should  be  numbered  among  the  gods; 
temples  were  erected  to  him  and  a  special  priest  appointed 
to  worship  him.  There  were  accordingly  fiamens  of  the 
divine  Augustus  or  the  divine  Claudius. 

The  custom  was  given  a  Greek  name,  apotheosis  (deifica- 
tion). 

The  emperor  had  no  right  to  delegate  his  power  to 
another.  His  son,  if  he  had  one,  did  not  become  emperor 
by  right.  The  successor  was  appointed  by  the  senate,  but 
it  was  usually  the  case  that  the  choice  fell  on  the  man 
designated  by  the  emperor  before  his  death. 

Administration  of  Rome, — The  distinction  was  still  pre- 
served between  Roman  citizens  and  subjects  of  Rome.     The 

[1  This  outline  of  the  imperial  power  must  not  be  understood  as  apply- 
ing in  all  its  details  to  the  system  adopted  by  Augustus.  Several  of  its 
features  were  of  slower  growth.  But  the  description  holds  good  for  the 
first  two  centuries  of  the  empire.] 


THE  EMPIRE. 


269 


city  of  Rome  and  Italy,  whose  inhabitants  had  become 
citizens,  were  administered  directly  by  the  magistrates  and 
the  senate.  Augustus  reduced  this  administration  to  a 
regular  organization. 

There  was  a  law  which  forbade  a  general  to  lead  his 
soldiers  inside  the  city,  but  the  emperor,  the  head  of  the 
army,  kept  near  him  his  military  escort,  the  praetorian 
cohorts  (signifying  general's  battalions).  The  praetorians 
were  chosen  from  among  the  veteran  soldiers  and  received 
double  pay,  exclusive  of  gratuities  [dona/ivum).  With  these 
troops  near  him  the  emperor  had  nothing  to  fear  from  the 
people  of  Rome.  The  praetorians  themselves  were  the  ones 
to  be  feared  (see  page  299). 


PKiETORIANS  (bAS-RELIEF  IN   LOUVRe). 

Augustus  also  established  troops  in  the  city  to  do  police 
duty  (the  urban  cohorts),  and  troops  to  patrol  the  city  at 
night  and  serve  as  firemen. 

Augustus  kept  up  the  custom  of  giving  grain  to  poor 
citizens.     A  special  officer  was  appointed  to  take  charge  of 


2  70  THE  ROMAN  PEOPLE. 

the  municipal  commissariat,  and  to  draw  up  the  lists  and 
oversee  the  distribution.  On  certain  feast-days  the  emperor 
had  a  special  distribution  of  wine,  oil,  clothing,  and  even 
money  {congiariuvi).  Under  Augustus  each  man  received  a 
total  of  one  hundred  and  forty  dollars  in  eight  distributions. 

There  was  an  officer,  the  prefect  of  the  city,  whose  duty 
it  was  to  maintain  order  and  administer  justice  in  and  about 
Rome. 

Administration  of  the  Provinces. — Augustus  gave  to  the 
senate  all  those  provmces  that  had  no  need  of  an  army,  and 
proconsuls  continued  to  be  sent  to  these  "  provinces  of  the 
senate. ' ' 

Augustus  reserved  to  himself  all  provinces  having  an  army 
and  all  frontier  provinces;  these  were  the  ''  provinces  of 
Augustus."  All  appointments  in  these  provinces  were 
made  by  the  emperor  himself.  He  sent  to  each  province  a 
governor,  known  as  the  legate  of  Augustus,  and  charged 
him  with  the  exercise  of  all  his  powers.  This  legate  com- 
manded the  army,  governed  the  inhabitants,  and  performed 
the  duties  of  a  circuit  judge,  authorized  to  pronounce  even 
the  death-sentence.  A  legionary  legate  was  appointed  by 
the  emperor  for  each  legion. 

In  each  of  his  provinces  the  emperor  had  one  or  more 
officials  to  collect  the  taxes  and  return  the  money  to  his 
treasury.  These  were  the  procurators  of  Augustus.  In 
small  provinces  having  no  army  the  procurator  was  at  the 
same  time  governor.^ 

The  Imperial  Army. —  For  the  defence  of  his  provinces 
the  emperor  had  a  standing  army,  made  up  of  volunteers, 
ordinarily  poor  citizens  who  became  soldiers  to  earn  a  living. 
They  enlisted  for  twenty  years,  and  often  engaged  for  a 
second  term.      They  received  a  wage,   and,   at  the  end    of 

P  The  imperial  legates  {pro pratore)  held  office  in  their  provinces  for 
an  indefinite  period  at  the  will  of  the  emperor.  The  proconsular  gov- 
ernors of  senatorial  provinces  continued,  as  under  the  republic,  to  hold 
only  annual  appointments.] 


THE  EMPIRE. 


271 


their  term  of  service,  were  discharged  with  a  sum  of  money 
and  an  allotment  of  land. 


|p/CM.NXl-gTb(:X[-F'FC: 


COMMON   SOLDIER. 


There  were  twenty-five  and  later  thirty  of  these  legions  of 
citizens,  each  composed  of  six  thousand  men,  divided  into 
cohorts  or  battalions.  In  addition  there  were  auxiliaries 
organized  in  small  bodies,  cohorts  of  infantry,  and  squadrons 
(wings,    alcB)    of   cavalry.       The    foreigners,    meaning   the 


2  72  THE  ROMAN  PEOPLE. 

Roman  subjects,  preserved  for  the  most  part  the  costume, 
arms,  and  methods  of  warfare  peculiar  to  their  own  country. 
Many  of  them  became  Roman  citizens  when  discharged. 

The  common  soldier  rose  to  the  rank  of  centurion,  which 
was  equal  in  power  but  not  in  dignity  to  that  of  captain. 
But  all  the  high  offices,  like  those  in  the  government  service, 
were  reserved  for  the  wealthy,  knights  or  senators.  It  was 
necessary  to  be  a  senator  to  become  a  legate  of  Augustus  or 
a  legionary  legate,  and  the  rank  of  knight  was  essential  to  a 
procurator  or  commander  of  a  cohort.  There  were  thus 
three  distinct  careers,  the  senatorial,  the  equestrian,  and 
that  of  the  simple  citizen. 

Augustus  created  a  jmliiary  treasury  to  maintain  this  army. 
It  was  made  up  of  the  revenue  from  new  taxes:  a  one  per 
cent  tax  on  sales,  a  five  per  cent  tax  on  the  emancipation  of 
slaves,  and  a  five  per  cent  tax  on  inheritances  exceeding  a 
certain  limit. 

There  were  now  four  distinct  treasuries:  first,  the  original 
treasury  of  the  senate  in  the  temple  of  Saturn;  second,  the 
military  treasury,  maintained  by  the  new  taxes;  third,  the 
emperor's  treasury,  called  the  "  fisc, "  maintained  by  the 
revenue  of  the  provinces,  imperial  domains,  taxes,  and 
customs  duties;  fourth,  the  private  fortune  of  the  emperor. 
In  practice,  however,  the  emperor  used  all  these  funds  to 
defray  the  public  expenses. ^ 

Wars  against  the  Barbarians. — Under  the  senate's  rule 
almost  all  the  Roman  provinces  had  for  neighbors  barbaric 
tribes  who  were  constantly  in  arms  and  ravaged  their 
country,  pillaging  the  houses  and  carrying  off  the  inhabitants 
as  slaves.  Augustus  devoted  his  lifetime  to  subduing  these 
barbarians  and  organizing  the  frontier  so  as  to  assure  peace 
to  the  inhabitants  of  the  empire. 

In  northern  Italy  the  Alpine  mountaineers  laid  waste  the 
country  as  far  as  the  Po  valley.     Augustus  had  them  pursued 

[^  For  a  time  the  emperors  left  the  senate  in  control  of  their  own 
treasury.] 


THE  EMPIRE,  273 

to  the  mountains.  The  whole  of  one  of  these  small  tribes, 
the  Salassi,  was  either  slaughtered  or  sold.  The  Alpine 
regions  were  now  all  under  Roman  control,  and  Augustus 
organized  three  small  provinces  there.  One  may  still  see, 
on  a  height  near  Monaco,  the  monument  erected  to 
Augustus,  with  an  inscription  enumerating  the  petty  peoples 
that  he  subjugated. 

It  was  necessary  to  protect  Italy  on  the  north  against  the 
easy  descent  of  the  Alps.  Augustus  had  the  whole  country 
occupied  north  of  the  Alps  as  far  as  the  Danube,  and  made 
of  it  two  provinces,  Rhgetia  (Bavaria),  which  remained  more 
or  less  of  a  desert,  and  Noricum  (Austria),  whose  population 
quickly  became  Italian. 

Augustus  went  into  Spain  to  direct  the  war  against  the 
mountain  peoples  in  the  north,  the  Asturians  and  the 
Cantabrians.  After  several  campaigns  (25-19  b.c.)  he  con- 
quered them  and  brought  away  a  number  of  them,  leaving 
three  legions  in  the  neighborhood  of  the  mountains  to  hold 
the  rest  in  check. 

In  the  mountain  region  east  of  the  Adriatic  Sea  which  the 
ancients  called  Illyria  lived  a  warlike  people  much  like  the 
Albanians  (they  spoke  the  same  language  as  the  modern 
Albanians).  They  were  subject  to  Rome,  and  their  warriors 
fought  in  the  Roman  armies.  They  now  revolted  and  after 
three  years  of  war  (12-10  b.c)  were  conquered  by  Tiberius. 

Both  sides  of  the  Danube,  from  the  mountains  to  its 
mouth,  were  inhabited  by  warlike  peoples,  the  Dacians  on 
the  north  and  the  Thracians  on  the  south.  One  Thracian 
people  had  had  a  king  who  was  friendly  to  Rome,  and 
another  Thracian  people  had  made  war  on  him  and  attacked 
Macedonia.  The  Romans  occupied  the  plain  between  the 
Danube  and  the  Balkan  peninsula  (Bulgaria)  and  made  of 
it  the  province  of  Moesia,  which  separated  the  Thracians  from 
the  Dacians  (13-11  b.c). 

In  the  year  8  b.c  these  wars  were  brought  to  an  end  and 
Augustus  closed  the  temple  of  Janus  for  twelve  years. 


474  THB  kOMAN  PEOPLE, 

Wars    against   the    Germans. —Caesar    had    conquered 

Gaul,  Augustus  organized  it.  He  spent  some  years  there 
with  his  two  stepsons,  Tiberius  and  Drusus.  He  divided  it 
into  three  provinces:  Aquitania  in  the  south,  Lugdunensis 
in  the  central  part,  and  Belgica  in  the  north.  Each  had  a 
governor,  but  Augustus  gave  them  a  common  centre.  On 
a  hill  commanding  the  Saone  (the  present  site  of  Fourviere) 
a  Roman  colony,  Lyons  (Lugdumwi),  had  just  been  founded, 
and  the  governor  of  Lugdunensis  was  established  there.  At 
the  foot  of  the  hill  where  the  Saone  flows  into  the  Rhone 
an  altar  was  erected  and  consecrated  to  Rome  and  Augustus. 
Every  year  envoys  from  the  sixty  Gallic  tribes  met  there, 
assisted  in  the  sacrificial  ceremonies  and  formed  themselves 
into  an  assembly  under  the  presidency  of  the  priest  who  had 
charge  of  the  altar,  a  great  Gallic  personage;  they  had  the 
right  to  address  requests  to  the  emperor.  ^ 

Gaul  was  continually  threatened  by  the  Germans,  a  race 
of  barbarians  and  warriors  who  inhabited,  between  the 
Rhine  and  the  Elbe,  a  country  of  forests  and  swamps,  with- 
out a  city.  The  Sicambri,  one  of  these  peoples,  seized 
Roman  merchants  and  crucified  them;  they  crossed  the 
Rhine  and  began  to  pillage  the  property  of  the  Gauls;  they 
destroyed  almost  a  whole  legion  which  was  sent  against  them, 
and  captured  the  eagle  which  served  as  a  standard  (i6  b.c). 
Later  they  made  alliance  with  two  other  tribes  to  cross  the 
Rhine  together  on  a  pillaging  expedition. 

Drusus  left  Rome  with  a  strong  force  to  put  an  end  to 
these  invasions  (12  b.c).  First  he  drove  the  barbarians  back 
across  the  Rhine,  then  proceeded  northward.  He  was 
assisted  by  the  Batavians,  the  German  peoples  living  on  the 
coast,  who  became  Roman  allies.  No  taxes  were  asked  of 
them,  but  they  furnished  soldiers,  especiallj'  cavalry,  who 
were  well  paid  by  the  Roman  government. 

P  This  assembly,  with  its  right  of  addressing  the  emperor,  more 
clearly  foreshadows  the  modern  representative  system  than  any  other 
institution  of  either  republic  or  empire.] 


THE  EMPIRE.  275 

Dnisus  forced  his  way  into  the  midst  of  tlie  German  tribes 
and  conquered  them,  transporting  forty  thousand  Sicambri 
to  the  left  bank  of  the  Rhine.  He  penetrated  as  far  as  the 
Elbe.     On  his  way  back  he  fell  from  his  horse  and  was  killed 

(9  B.C.). 

It  was  probably  the  wish  to  Augustus  to  keep  all  the 
country  between  the  Rhine  and  the  Elbe,  and  make  of  it  the 
province  of  Germany. 

In  6  A.  D.  Tiberius  was  sent  into  this  region,  where  a  great 
revolt  of  the  Marcomanni  had  arisen.  By  another  revolt  in 
Illyria  he  was  forced  to  patch  up  a  peace  in  Germany  and 
march  southward,  where  a  three  years'  campaign  was  neces- 
sary to  subdue  the  disaffection  (6-8  a.d.). 

The  rebels  had  served  as  auxiliaries  in  the  Roman  armies 
and  knew  how  to  fight.  At  length  they  gave  up  the  struggle, 
and  their  leader,  a  Dalmatian  named  Bato,  was  surrounded 
in  his  fortress  of  mountains,  surrendered,  and  was  sent  to 
Ravenna. 

Tiberius  asked  him  the  cause  of  the  rebellion.  His  answer 
was:  "Why  do  the  Romans  send  wolves  instead  of  dogs  to 
guard  their  flocks  }  " 

There  was  great  rejoicing  at  Rome  at  the  news  of  the 
peace  (9  a.d.). 

Varus. — Some  days  later  word  came  of  a  disaster  in 
Germany.  The  governor,  Varus,  whose  wife  was  a  niece  of 
tlie  emperor,  had  lately  been  governor  of  Syria,  where  he 
had  made  a  fortune  for  himself  by  pillaging  the  country. 
He  knew  nothing  of  barbaric  peoples  or  their  methods  of 
warfare.  The  Germans  were  not  yet  accustomed  to  the 
Roman  system  of  government,  by  which  the  governor  toured 
the  country  to  judge  important  cases.  They  were  displeased 
with  his  court,  where  Latin  was  spoken  and  cases  were  con- 
ducted by  foreign  lawyers. 

In  each  tribe  there  was  one  faction  that  favored  Rome  and 
one  that  was  hostile  to  her.  The  hostile  faction  became  the 
stronger,  and  a  number  of  tribes  decided  to  revolt.     The 


276  THE  ROMAN  PEOPLE. 

chief  of  the  league  was  Arminius,  a  young  prince  of  the 
Cherusci.  He  had  served  as  an  officer  in  the  Roman  army, 
and  Augustus  had  made  him  a  Roman  citizen  and  even  a 
knight.      He  was  thought  to  be  devoted  to  the  Romans. 

Varus  had  passed  the  summer  in  the  valley  of  the  Weser. 
In  the  autumn  he  was  preparing  to  return  to  the  Rhine 
when  he  learned  that  a  neighboring  district  was  in  revolt. 
He  went  there  with  his  army,  numbering  about  twenty 
thousand  men,  and  was  attacked  in  the  forests  of  Teutoburg. 
German  warriors  rushed  on  him  from  all  sides,  and 
slaughtered  the  slender  and  widely  scattered  garrisons,  then 
proceeded  to  gather  together  their  whole  force  to  meet  the 
Roman  army. 

Arminius,  with  some  of  his  friends,  had  remained  near 
Varus,  the  better  to  deceive  him.  One  evening  after  dining 
in  the  governor's  tent  he  disappeared,  and  went  to  take  his 
place  at  the  head  of  the  rebels.  The  Roman  army  was 
encumbered  with  baggage  and  fatigued  by  marching  in  the 
rain  through  a  trackless  forest.  For  three  days  the  Romans 
marched  under  ceaseless  attack  by  the  Germans.  The 
cavalry  deserted  in  an  attempt  to  save  themselves,  but  were 
slaughtered.  Varus,  wounded  and  despairing,  killed  him- 
self, and  several  of  his  officers  followed  his  example.  At 
length  the  army  surrendered  with  the  eagles  of  the  three 
legions.  The  Germans  massacred  the  soldiers  and  crucified 
or  buried  alive  the  officers  and  the  lawyers;  the  heads  they 
cut  off  and  nailed  to  trees.     This  was  in  the  year  9  a.d. 

The  Germans  were  enraged  against  the  lawyers  in  particular. 
They  captured  one,  cut  out  his  tongue  and  sewed  up  his  mouth, 
saying  to  him,  "  Now  hiss  if  you  can,  viper!  " 

Augustus  was  filled  with  consternation.  There  was  a 
report  that  he  was  heard  to  cry  when  alone  at  night, 
"Varus,  give  me  back  my  Regions!"  This  was  the  only 
army  that  perished. 

After  the  death  of  Augustus,  Germanicus,  son  of  Drusus, 
nephew  and  adopted  son  of  Tiberius,  made  three  expeditions 


THE  EMPIRE.  277 

into  Germany  (14-16  a.  d.).  But  Tiberius  gave  up  the 
subjugation  of  Germany  and  abandoned  the  left  bank  of  the 
Rhine.  The  legions  numbered  17,  18,  and  19,  which  the 
Germans  had  destroyed,  were  never  restored. 

Frontiers  of  the  Empire. — The  frontier  of  the  Roman 
Empire  was  organized  by  Augustus.  The  old  provinces  had 
been  conquered  without  definite  limitation,  and  had  no  dis- 
tinct boundaries.  Augustus  extended  his  conquests  in  order 
to  gain  a  frontier  that  might  more  easily  be  defended.^ 

The  Roman  Empire  was  now  bounded  on  the  west  by  the 
Ocean;  on  the  north  by  the  English  Channel,  the  Rhine, 
the  Danube,  and  the  Black  Sea;  on  the  east  by  the  deserts 
of  the  Euphrates  and  Arabia;  on  the  south  by  the  great 
African  deserts.  It  included  all  the  countries  around  the 
Mediterranean :  Spain,  France,  Italy,  Bavaria,  Austria, 
Hungary,  European  Turkey,  the  whole  of  Asia  Minor,  Syria, 
Egypt,  and  the  north  of  Africa.  It  was  the  greatest  empire 
that  had  ever  been  known.  Augustus,  on  his  death,  advised 
his  successor  not  to  enlarge  it. 

Almost  all  the  countries  were  organized  in  provinces  with 
Roman  governors.  There  were  still,  and  especially  on  the 
coast  of  Asia  Minor,  a  number  of  kings  of  ancient  dynasties, 
but  they  were  dependent  on  the  emperor,  and  owed  him 
obedience.  These  little  kingdoms  existed  only  by  his  will, 
and  during  the  first  century  after  Christ  were  all  transformed 
into  Roman  provinces. 

For  the  defence  of  this  vast  empire  Augustus  had  twenty- 
five  and  later  thirty  legions  of  citizens,  in  addition  to  the 
auxiliary  bodies.  These  soldiers  were  not  scattered  through 
the  empire,  but  were  stationed  on  the  frontiers.  In  the 
provinces  of  the  interior  there  was  no  Roman  army,  but  each 
frontier  province  had  its  little  army,  and  a  fortified  camp  in 
which  the  army  spent  at  least  all  the  winter.  The  com- 
mander-in-chief in  the  province,  who  was  at  the  same  time 

[^  What  modern  governments  would  call  a  "  scientific  frorrtier."] 


27^  THE  ROMAN  PEOPLE, 

the  governor,  held  his  tribunal  there.  Around  the  camp 
gathered  the  families  of  the  soldiers,  merchants,  tradesmen, 
tavern-keepers,  and  many  old  soldiers  who,  when  their  term 
of  service  was  at  an  end,  preferred  to  remain  near  their 
comrades.      Each  camp  thus  became  a  city. 

In  the  west,  the  army,  comprising  three  legions  (one  only 
since  the  second  century),  was  established  in  the  north  of 
Spain  to  fight  the  Asturian  mountaineers.  The  camp  kept 
the  name  of  the  army,  Legio  (Leon). 

In  Africa,  on  the  southern  frontier,  a  small  army  of  one 
legion  was  stationed  to  keep  in  check  the  brigands  of  the 
desert. 

In  the  east  there  was  but  one  enemy  to  fear,  the  great 
kingdom  of  the  Parthians.  The  garrison  of  three  legions 
was  in  the  province  of  Syria,  with  its  camp  at  Antioch.  No 
important  war  was  made  on  Augustus  in  this  direction. 
The  Parthian  kings  were  busy  fighting  among  themselves  and 
kept  on  terms  of  peace  with  Rome.  One  of  them  even 
asked  for  an  alliance,  and  sent  to  Augustus  the  standards 
which  the  Parthians  had  taken  from  Crassus. 

The  danger  lay  on  the  northern  border,  behind  which 
dwelt  tribes  of  barbarians,  poor  and  fond  of  fighting,  and 
always  ready  to  cross  the  Roman  frontier  for  plunder;  beyond 
the  Rhine  the  Germans,  beyond  the  Danube  the  Germans 
and  Dacians.      Here  Rome  stationed  her  strongest  forces. 

The  army  of  the  Rhine,  comprising  eight  legions,  was 
divided  in  two  parts.  The  garrison  of  upper  Germany  had 
its  camp  at  Vetera  Castra  and  guarded  the  Rhine  from  its 
mouth  to  the  mountains.  The  garrison  of  lower  Germany 
had  its  camp  at  Moguntiacum  (Mainz)  and  defended  all  the 
rest  of  the  Rhine  to  Lake  Constance. 

The  frontier  was  later  carried  far  beyond  the  Rhine  and 
marked  by  a  straight  line  of  entrenchments,  more  than  three 
hundred  miles  long,  extending  from  the  Rhine  to  the 
Danube.  The  part  towards  the  Rhine  consisted  of  a  ditch 
and  a  wall  flanked  by  towers;  at  certain  intervals,  set  back 


THE  EMPIRE.  279 

about  a  quarter  of  a  mile,  were  erected  fortresses  of  stone. 
The  part  towards  the  Danube  consisted  merely  of  a  mass  of 
stone  without  ditch  or  towers.  The  country  between  this 
frontier  and  the  Rhine  was  taken  by  colonists,  and  several 
small  Roman  cities  were  founded  there. 

The  army  of  the  Danube  was  divided  among  four 
provinces:  Illyriaand  Dalmatia,  in  the  mountains;  Pannonia, 
in  the  plain  of  Hungary,  which  was  defended  by  the  main 
garrison  and  the  fleet  of  war- vessels;  and  Moesia  (the  modern 
Bulgaria),  between  the  Balkans  and  the  Danube.  This  army, 
though  at  first  less  numerous  than  that  of  the  Rhine,  became 
the  more  important  before  the  end  of  the  first  century. 

SOURCES. 

Augustus Deeds  {Momitnentum  AticyranuTn). 

Eutropius  Bk.  vii,  §§  7-12. 

Floras .  Bk.  iv,  c.  xii. 

Livy Epit.  cxxxix-cxL. 

Paterculus Bk.  11.  cc.  Ixxxix-cxxiii. 

Suetonius Augustus. 

Tacitus Annals,  Bk.  I   §§1-5. 

PARALLEL   READING. 

Duruy cc.  Ixiii,  Ixv-lxix. 

Merivale History  of  the  Romans  under  the   Empire, 

Vol.  Ill,  cc.  XXX,  xxxi,  and  Vol.  iv. 

Mommsen Provinces  of  the  Roman  Empire. 

Botsford c.  ix  to  p.  2 1 1 . 

Moray  ...    c.  xxiii  to  p.  225. 

Myers c.  xv  to  p.  325. 

Pelham Bk.  v,  c.  iii. 

Capes.  W.  W The  Early  Empire  (Epochs  Series). 

Bury,  J.  B Student's  Roman  Empire,  c.  ii. 

Taylor Constitutional  and  Political  History  of  Rome, 

cc.  xvii-xix. 

Arnold,  W.  T Rojnatt  Provincial  Adininistration,  c.  xii. 

Abbott cc.  xii,  xvii-xxi. 

Greenidge cc.  x,  xi. 

Inge,  W.  R Society  in  Rome  under  the  Ccesars. 


CHAPTER    XIX. 
LITERATURE,   THE   ARTS   AND   TRADE. 

Great  Writers  of  the  Revolution. — The  Romans  were  not 
naturally  a  literary  people,  but  drew  their  inspiration  from 
the  Greeks.  The  early  Romans  had  begun  by  translating  or 
imitating  the  works  of  Greek  writers.  Plautus  and  Terence 
translated  Greek  comedies. 

Then  came  authors  who  composed  original  writings. 
These  were  still  pupils  of  Greece,  as  their  ideas  and  forms 
showed,  but  there  was  jnore  or  less  originality  in  their  work. 

The  first  were  orators,  whom  we  know  only  by  reputation, 
as  none  of  their  work  has  been  preserved.  The  only  Roman 
orator  whose  speeches  have  been  preserved  is  Cicero.  He 
had  studied  Greek  eloquence  in  Rhodes,  and  introduced 
into  Latin  the  habits  of  Greek  orators,  choosing  his  words 
with  great  care  and  arranging  them  in  long  and  well -con- 
structed sentences.  He  delivered  a  large  number  of  orations, 
chiefly  in  cases  before  the  courts,  which  he  subsequently 
reduced  to  writing.  He  composed  also  a  number  of  philo- 
sophical treatises  introducing  to  the  Romans  the  doctrines  of 
Greek  philosophers.  He  thus  created  classical  Latin  prose. 
Cicero's  style  became  the  model  which  all  followed  who 
wished  to  write  good  Latin.  At  the  same  time  (99-55  b.c.  ) 
Lucretius,  the  most  original  of  Latin  poets,  expounded  in 
his  poem  De  Natura  Rerum  the  doctrine  of  the  Greek 
philosopher  Epicurus.  He  wished  to  convince  his  fellow 
citizens  of  the  absurdity  of  their  religion  in  order  to  deliver 

280 


LITERATURE,  THE  ARTS  AND   TRADE.  281 

them  from  their  fear  of  the  gods  and  of  hell.  Being  more 
concerned  with  ideas  than  forms  of  expression,  he  used  many 
antiquated  Latin  words  and  even  Greek  words. 

On  the  other  hand,  Catullus,  who  imitated  the  Greek  poets 
of  Alexandria,  in  his  short  pieces  of  verse  (elegies,  epigrams) 
endeavored  to  write  in  a  correct,  elegant,  and  brilliant  style. 

Varro,  at  once  a  scholar  and  writer,  wrote  several  exten- 
sive treatises  on  agriculture,  antiquities,  and  grammar.  He 
also  wrote  the  Saturce  MenippecB,  a  medley  of  verse  and 
prose,  intended  as  a  censure  on  the  morals  of  his  time. 

It  was  the  fashion  in  Rome  at  this  time  to  write  books  on 
Roman  history.  The  majority  of  these  books  are  known  to 
us  only  by  reputation ;  the  only  historical  works  remaining 
are  from  the  pen  of  Sallust,  not  his  great  Roman  history  but 
simply  two  short  essays,  Juguriha  and  Catiline,  whose  chief 
merit  lies  in  their  style.  Some  of  the  great  generals  adopted 
the  Greek  custom  of  recording  what  they  had  seen  and  done. 
Sulla  and  Lucullus  both  wrote  Memoirs  in  Greek,  but  they 
have  been  lost.  Caesar  wrote  in  Latin  his  recollections 
{Commentaries)  of  the  Gallic  and  civil  wars.  His  Latin  was 
very  pure,  like  that  of  all  old  Roman  families,  his  style  a 
simple  record  of  what  he  had  seen.  His  book  is  composed 
in  the  purest  Latin,  and  is  the  best  Roman  history  in  exist- 
ence. 

Reading  became  the  fashion,  and  developed  quite  a  con- 
siderable trade.  Copyists,  usually  slaves,  wrote  on  rolls  of 
papyrus  the  works  of  Greek  and  Latin  authors.  These 
copies  found  a  ready  sale. 

The  Augustan  Age. — During  the  half-century  of  govern- 
ment by  Augustus  there  were  a  number  of  famous  writers 
in  Rome.  Almost  all  were  natives  of  the  Italian  cities,  not 
of  Rome.  They  were  not  men  of  high  station,  but  middle- 
class  citizens.      The  majority  were  poets. 

Vergil,  born  at  Mantua,  came  to  Rome  in  his  youth.  He 
won  recognition  from  Augustus,  who  restored  to  him  his 
estates  (this  was  at  the  time  that  the  triumvirs  had  deprived 


2  82  THE  ROMAN  PEOPLE. 

the  citizens  of  Mantua  of  their  lands  to  give  them  to  the 
soldiers).  Vergil  composed  rural  poems,  the  Bucolics,  in 
imitation  of  the  Greeks;  then  by  request  of  Augustus  a 
poem  on  agriculture,  tiie  Georgics,  and  lastly  his  great  epic 
poem,  the  ^neid. 

Horace,  son  of  a  freedman,  was  also  patronized  by 
Augustus.  He  wrote  Odes  in  imitation  of  the  Greeks,  also 
Epistles  and  Satires. 

Propertius  and  Tibullus  also  followed  Greek  models;  they 
composed  short  poems,  chiefly  elegies. 

Ovid,  to  whom  verse  was  a  natural  mode  of  expression, 
wrote  long  poems  on  mythology  and  festivals.  He  was  for 
some  time  the  favorite  of  Augustus,  but  died  in  exile  in  a 
semi-barbaric  city  near  the  mouth  of  the  Danube. 

The  chief  prose  writer  was  Livy  (Titus  Livius,  of  Padua), 
who  wrote  a  complete  history  of  Rome  from  its  founda- 
tion. 

Augustus  paid  a  great  deal  of  attention  to  these  writers, 
giving  them  advice  and  encouragement,  and  sometimes 
money.  His  life-long  friend  Maecenas,  who  remained  a 
knight  all  his  life  because  he  refused  to  accept  an  office, 
loved  to  gather  authors  about  him.  He  received  them  in 
familiar  fashion  in  his  house,  and  talked  with  them.  He 
treated  Horace  as  a  fnend,  although  the  son  of  a  freedman. 
Horace  recognized  his  kindness  by  mentioning  him  often  in 
his  poems,  and  thus  made  the  name  of  Maecenas  immortal. 

All  these  poets  extolled  Augustus  as  their  benefactor. 
They  made  his  name  so  famous  that  this  period  in  literature 
has  come  to  be  known  as  the  Augustan  Age. 

Architecture. — Rome  could  not  emulate  Greece  in  paint- 
ing or  sculpture.  Her  art  lay  in  the  more  practical  realm  of 
architecture. 

The  Romans  imitated  the  Greeks  here  as  in  the  other  arts. 
They  adopted  the  Greek  idea  of  columns  and  capitals,  and 
began  to  build  houses  after  the  Greek  model.  They  did, 
however,  invent  a  system  of  construction  for  their  buildings 


LITERATURE,  THE  ARTS  AND   TRADE. 


2S3 


that  the  Greeks  did  not  employ:  this  was  the  arch.  This 
enabled  them  to  build  larger  and  higher  edifices  than  those 
of  the  Greeks. 


m 

t 

1, 

1  -1. 

-  -hiri 

■m 

.-^ri. 

ARCHES    FROM    THEATRE    OF    MARCELLUS.      (lObKE.) 


Dressed  stone  was  used  only  for  the  arches  and  the  outside 
of  their  buildings.  The  inside  walls  were  of  rough  material, 
undressed  stone,  pebbles,  and  bricks  held  together  by  a  very 
solid  mortar.  These  materials  were  to  be  found  everywhere, 
and  so  the  Romans  were  able  to  build  monumental  struc- 
tures throughout  the  empire. 

Before  the  time  of  Augustus  Rome  had  almost  no 
monuments   but  the   Capitol,    Pompey's  theatre,    and    the 


3^4 


THE  ROMAN  PEOPLE, 


\g.^R 


^^mmmmm^^ 


tDDDDIlO 

IDOniDl 


IIOMAN  COLUMN  AND  ENTABI^TUR^  F^OM  QRAN<j«, 


LITERATURE,  THE  ARTS  AND   TRADE. 


285 


monuments  erected  by  Caesar  around  his  square,  the  Julian 
Forum. 

Augustus  devoted  much  attention  to  beautifying  the  city. 
He  repaired  the  old  sanctuaries,  which  were  falling  in  ruins; 
he  boasted  of  having  restored  eighty-two  of  these  and  built 
sixteen  new  ones.  The  great  theatre  of  Marcellus,  the 
Augustan  Forum,  and  the  Julian  basilica,  where  .  the 
merchants  met,  were  constructed  in  his  reign. 

The  most  famous  of  these  monuments  is  the  Pantheon, 
built  by  Agrippa,  partially  rebuilt  under  Hadrian  in  the 
second  century,  and  still  in  existence.  This  is  an  enormous 
round  temple  covered  by  a  great  dome  (of  one  hundred  and 


f'^^^^Y^i 


li  llljliil  I 


THE    PANTHEON.       (hAUSER.) 


forty-five  feet  span) ;  in  the  centre  of  the  dome  is  an  opening 
forty  feet  in  diameter  which  admits  the  light,  but  is  so 
high  that  not  a  breath  of  wind  can  come  in,  allowing  the 
rain  to  fall  so  straight  that  it  has  formed  a  circle  on  the 
pavement. 


286  THE  ROMAN  PEOPLE. 

Augustus  said  of  Rome:  "  I  found  a  city  of  brick,  I  leave 
a  city  of  marble." 

Roads. — The  Romans  continued  to  construct  roads  not 
only  in  Italy  but  in  the  provinces.  These  were  causeways 
built  of  stone  and  cement,  and  ordinarily  in  a  straight  line. 
The  distances  were  indicated  by  milestones,  counting  from 
a  column  in  the  centre  of  the  Forum.  Stations  were  estab' 
lished  along  these  roads,  with  horses  and  couriers  to  carry 
government  messages. 

Agrippa  had  a  sort  of  map  made  of  all  the  roads  in  the 
empire,  indicating  also  the  stations  and  the  distances  between 
them.  This  itinerary  was  carved  in  stone  and  set  up  in  a 
public  place;  copies  of  it  were  made  for  the  use  of  travellers. 
In  a  mineral  spring  in  Italy  silver  goblets  have  been  found 
on  which  was  engraved  the  itinerary  from  Gades  (Cadiz)  to 
Rome,  with  the  names  of  the  stations  and  the  distances 
between  them. 

Commerce. — These  roads  were  constructed  primarily  for 
military  purposes,  and  the  stations 
established  for  the  use  of  govern- 
ment messengers.  They  were  also 
used,  however,  by  merchants  and 
travellers.  Arrangements  were 
made  at  the  stations  for  relays  of 
horses,  and  accommodation  of 
sufficiently  poor  character,  which, 
however,  served  as  shelter  for  the 
night  and  often  supplied  some  sort 
COIN  OF  AUGUSTUS  "BECAUSE  THE  of   rcfrcsliment.     Communication 

ROADS    WERE    MADE."  .  i         j-         •  i  •         ^       J 

was  thus  greatly  facilitated. 

By  keeping  the  tribes  from  fighting  among  themselves 
Rome  had  established  peace  in  the  empire,  and  peace 
rendered  communication  more  assured.  Thus  encouraged 
and  protected,  a  great  system  of  commerce  grew  up  between 
the  different  countries  of  the  empire. 

The  greatest  market  of  all  was  Rome,  which  had  to  supply 


LITERATURE,  THE  ARTS  AND    TRADE.  287 

the  wants  of  a  population  of  one  and  a  half  to  two  millions. 
Further,  her  inhabitants  were  the  wealthiest  peonle  in  the 
empire  and  demanded  many  articles  of  luxury. 

Merchandise  was  carried  mainly  by  sea.  The  ships  dis- 
charged their  cargoes  at  Ostia,  at  the  mouth  of  the  Tiber; 
the  cargo  was  then  reloaded  on  lighters  and  borne  up  the 
river  to  the  foot  of  the  Aventine  hill,  where  were  situated 
the  wharves  and  warehouses  of  Rome.     Cargoes  destined  to 


Ketones  AufusU. 
ULlrts  et,  SeraptM 


ROME    IN    THE    TIME    OF    THE    HMPIRE 


Other  parts  cf  Italy  were  preferably  discharged  in  the  Bay  of 
Naples,  at  Puteoli,  and  forwarded  to  the  cities  of  Italy  either 
by  land  or  by  coast  and  canal  boats. 

The  Romans  drew  revenue  from  the  provinces  by  taxes 
and  banking.  Roman  commerce  was  mainly  importation, 
for  Rome  and  Italy  bought  more  than  they  sold.  The 
merchants  collected  in  a  single  city  in  each  country,  usually 
a  seaport,  where  vessels  came  to  take  goods  to  Italy.      In 


288  THE  ROMAN  PEOPLE, 

every  large  city  in  the  empire  Roman  merchants  directed 
this  export  trade. 

The  countries  of  the  south,  Sicily,  Africa,  and  Egypt, 
yielded  chiefly  grain  and  dried  fruits.  These  products  were 
shipped  from  Panormus  (now  Palermo),  Carthage,  and  Alex- 
andria, 

The  semi-barbaric  countries  of  the  west  furnished  building 
lumber,  skins,  wool,  and  slaves.  The  centres  of  western 
commerce  were:  in  Spain,  Gades  (Cadiz),  which  exported 
linens,  wools  from  Bgetica,  and  silver  ore;  in  Gaul,  Narbo 
Martins  (now  Narbonne) ;  on  the  coast  of  Cisalpine  Gaul, 
Genoa;  on  the  Adriatic  coast,  Aquileia. 

From  the  northern  countries  came  English  tin,  women's 
hair,  and  later  amber,  which  was  gathered  on  the  shores  of 
the  Baltic  and  brought  across  Germany  to  the  Black  Sea. 

The  great  sea  trade  was  with  the  Orient.  Here  were 
found  the  articles  of  luxury  which  the  Romans  could  not 
now  live  without.  The  Indian  and  Arabian  merchants 
imported  the  products  of  warm  countries :  the  perfumes  of 
Arabia,  spices,  drugs  (aloes,  opium),  indigo,  ivory,  precious 
stones  and  pearls,  fine  cotton  stuffs  from  India,  and  silks 
from  China.  These  came  by  sea  and  by  caravan  to  three 
great  centres:  to  Alexandria  by  the  Red  Sea  and  the  Nile; 
to  Antioch  by  the  Persian  Gulf  and  the  Syrian  deserts;  to 
Olbia,  on  the  Black  Sea,  from  the  interior  of  Asia  through 
the  Caspian  Sea. 

PARALLEL   READING. 

Duruy cc.  Ixx. 

Merivale c.  xli. 

Botsford c.  ix,  pp,  21 1-218. 

Morey c.  xxiii  from  p.  225. 

Myers c.  xv  from  p.  325, 

Bury Studetifs  Kornan  Empire,  c.  ii. 

Crutwell History  of  Roman  Literature. 

TeufTel History  of  Roman  Literature. 

Sim  cox History  of  Latin  Literature. 

Mackail Latin  Literature, 


CHAPTER   XX. 
THE   EMPERORS   OF   THE   AUGUSTAN    FAMILY.  ^ 

Early  Years  of  the  Reign  of  Tiberius. — Tiberius,  the 
adopted  son  of  Augustus,  was  his  successor.  He  was  at  this 
time  fifty-six  years  old  and  a  man  of  experience  in  public 
affairs.  He  had  been  governor  of  Gaul,  had  crossed  the 
Rhine  nine  times  and  fought  difficult  campaigns  in  the 
forests,  living  among  his  soldiers  and  often  sleeping  on  the 
ground.  He  maintained  his  simple  habits.  He  ate  little 
meat,  but  was  extremely  fond  of  cabbages  and  cucumbers. 
He  lived  in  a  plain  house  and  devoted  himself  to  his  work. 

Tiberius  altered  nothing  in  the  system  established  by 
Augustus.  On  assuming  power  he  convoked  the  senate  to 
consider  the  method  of  carrying  on  the  government,  and  even 
permitted  one  of  the  senators  to  propose  a  definite  partition 
of  power  between  the  emperor  and  the  senate.  He  granted 
the  senate  new  rights  and  allowed  it  to  judge  all  accusations 
against  the  nobles. 

Like  Augustus,  he  affected  an  air  of  deference  towards  the 
senate.  He  sent  a  quaestor  to  read  his  messages  and  consult 
the  senators,  coming  sometimes  in  person  to  vote  and  even 
casting  his  vote  with  the  minority. 

One  day  a  governor  was  accused  of  having  plundered  his 
province.  Tiberius  was  indignant  and  wished  to  speak  against 
him,  when  one  of  the  senators  said  :  "  When  will  you  speak  } 

1  Caesar  was  the  family  name  of  the  founder  of  the  empire.  Count- 
ing Caesar  and  Augustus  there  were  in  all  only  six  emperors  of  the 
family  of  Caesar.  It  is  customary,  however,  to  call  the  first  twelve 
emperors  the  twelve  Caesars. 

289 


290  THE  ROMAN   PEOPLE. 


THE  EMPERORS   OF  THE  AUGUSTAN  FAMILY.      291 

If  you  speak  first,  you  dictate  our  opinion  ;  if  you  let  us  speak 
first,  I  shall  be  afraid  of  expressing  a  different  opinion  from 
yours."     Tiberius  gave  up  the  idea  of  speaking. 

Tiberius  cared  nothing  for  public  honors,  a  rare  charac- 
teristic in  a  Roman.  He  refused  to  have  temples  erected  to 
him  as  to  a  god.  The  senate  offered  him  the  title  of  Father 
of  the  Country,  but  he  refused  it.  He  refused  to  be  called 
"  lord,"  and  forbade  mention  of  his  **  divine  occupations." 
The  senate  wished  to  give  his  name  to  one  of  the  months, 
as  had  been  done  in  honor  of  Caesar  (July)  and  of  Augustus 
(August),  but  he  declined  the  honor.  '*  What  will  you 
do,"  he  asked,  *'  when  you  have  had  thirteen  emperors  ?  " 

He  was  a  solemn  man,  who  performed  his  imperial  duties 
conscientiously  but  without  pleasure;  he  scorned  flattery  and 
defied  conspiracy. 

He  once  said,  speaking  of  the  senators:  "  Oh  these  men, 
so  eager  for  servitude!"  He  also  said:  "  You  know  not 
what  a  monster  the  empire  is."  And  again:  "It  is  a  wolf 
which  I  hold  by  the  ears." 

Many  of  the  nobles  chafed  under  subjection  to  a  man  of 
less  noble  birth  than  their  own.  But  the  senate  dared  not 
disobey  him  and  Tiberius  was  sole  master,  like  Augustus 
before  him. 

At  the  beginning  of  his  reign  the  legions  of  the  Danube 
and  the  Rhine  mutinied.  The  Danubian  soldiers  demanded 
a  wage  of  one  denarius  a  day,  and  a  reduction  of  four  years 
from  the  twenty  years'  term  of  service.  Tiberius  sent  his  son 
Drusus  to  quell  the  revolt.  A  lucky  eclipse  of  the  moon 
terrified  them  and  they  calmed  down. 

The  Rhine  legions  were  also  clamorous  for  the  sum  which 
Augustus  had  bequeathed  to  them  in  his  will.  Those  of 
lower  Germany  massacred  their  centurions  and  wished  to 
proclaim  as  emperor  their  general  Germanicus,  the  nephew 
and  adopted  son  of  Tiberius.  Germanicus  protested  and  in 
the  presence  of  his  soldiers  placed  his  sword  to  his  breast, 
saying  that  he  would  prefer  to   die.     There  were  cries  of 


292  THE  ROMAN  PEOPLE, 

"Strike,  then!  "  and  a  soldier  offered  his  sword  with  the 
words,  "  Take  this,  it  is  sharper."  Germanicus  pretended 
to  receive  a  letter  from  Tiberius  promising  the  soldiers  the 
desired  increase  in  wages,  and  paid  it  out  of  his  own  pocket 
and  those  of  his  friends. 

Tiberius  later  withdrew  the  concessions  he  made  at  the 
time  of  the  mutiny.  He  maintained  discipline  and  never 
again  during  his  reign  suffered  a  military  revolt. 

Germanicus  commanded  the  army  of  the  Rhine  in  Germany 
for  three  years  (see  page  276),  and  returned  to  celebrate  his 
triumph  in  Rome.  A.  triumphal  arch  was  erected  in  his 
honor;  he  was  received  as  a  great  general,  and  won  the  love 
of  the  people  and  his  soldiers  by  his  affability.  Tiberius 
next  sent  him  to  the  east  to  settle  the  affairs  of  Armenia,  and 
he  died  there  at  the  age  of  thirty-four  (19  a.  d.).  His  friends 
declared  later  that  he  had  been  poisoned. 

A  noble  named  Piso,  a  personal  eremy  of  Germanicus,  had 
put  poison  in  the  hitter's  food.  This  was  proved  by  the  fact 
that  Germanicus  died  with  froth  on  his  lips  and  livid  spots  all 
over  his  body  ;  also  that  after  the  body  was  burned  the  heart 
was  found  intact.^  It  was  also  said  that  on  hearing  the  news  of 
his  death  Tiberius  and  his  wife  Li  via  made  no  effort  to  conceal 
their  joy. 

Tiberius  and  the  Provinces. — Tiberius  paid  much  atten- 
tion to  his  provinces.  He  endeavored  to  give  them  honest 
governors,  and  this  was  not  easy,  because  he  appointed  only 
nobles,  and  the  Roman  nobles  were  accustomed  to  look  upon 
a  province  simply  as  a  rapid  source  of  wealth  at  the  expense 
of  the  inhabitants  (see  page  175).  Tiberius  supervised  the 
governors,  punishing  all  forms  of  pillaging,  and  forbidding 
increase  of  the  taxes  even  for  the  benefit  of  the  treasury. 
"A  good  shepherd,"  he  said,  "shears  his  sheep;  he  does 
not  skin  them."  Now  the  nobles  did  not  care  to  leave 
Rome  to  fill  the  office  of  conscientious  administrators,  so 
Tiberius  found  few  candidates  for  the  governorships.      He 

^  It  is  hardly  necessary  to  say  that  these  statements  prove  nothinci:. 


THE  EMPERORS   OF  THE  AUGUSTAN  FAMILY.      293 

adopted  the  custom  of  leaving  a  governor  for  a  long  period 
in  the  same  province. 

Last  Years  of  Tiberius. — Tiberius  had  a  son,   Drusus, 

.  whom    he    destined    to    succeed    him.       But    Drusus    was 

poisoned  by  his  own  wife.     There  was  no  one  left  now  to 

succeed  the  emperor  but  his  adopted  grandsons,  the  three 

sons  of  Germanicus. 

There  had  already  been  much  trouble  in  the  emperor's 
family,  between  his  wife,  Livia,  and  Agrippina,  the  widow 
of  Germanicus.  The  Roman  nobles,  who  were  hostile  to 
Tiberius,  began  to  form  a  party  in  favor  of  Agrippina  and 
her  oldest  son,  Nero. 

Tiberius  became  suspicious  in  his  isolation,  and  instigated 
many  prosecutions  for  high  treason  {^lese  majeste).  There 
was  an  old  law,  made  at  first  for  the  tribunes  of  the  people, 
and  later  applied  to  the  emperor,  which  pronounced  the 
penalty  of  death  against  any  man  who  should  injure  the 
majesty  of  the  Roman  people  by  offending  in  word  or  deed 
its  representative,  the  emperor.  The  senate,  which  was  now 
the  supreme  court  of  the  empire,  undertook  the  prosecution 
of  all  such  offenders.  In  the  first  years  it  endeavored  to  seek 
out  all  persons  guilty  of  speaking  ill  of  the  emperor  or  his 
mother.  Tiberius  objected  to  this,  saying,  "In  a  free 
country  speech  and  thought  must  be  free."  He  now  per- 
mitted the  prosecution  of  traitors  and  possibly  encouraged 
it.  The  senate  began  to  prosecute  and  condemn,  especially 
persons  of  high  position.  The  goods  of  the  condemned 
were  forfeit  to  the  state.  Those  who  had  denounced  the 
victim  received  a  portion  of  his  goods,  thus  rendering  the 
business  of  informer  {delator)  a  lucrative  one. 

Cremutius  Cordus,  a  historian,  was  accused  of  eulogizing 
Brutus  in  his  History  of  the  Civil  Wars.  He  pleaded  his  case 
before  the  senate,  then  returned  to  his  home  and  starved 
himself  to  death!  In  the  succeeding  years  many  nobles  were 
denounced  and  a  number  of  them  condemned;  ordinarily 
they  received  an  order  from  the  emperor  to  kill  themselves. 


294  THE  ROMAN  PEOFLE, 

and  accordingly  took  their  lives.  Their  goods  were  forfeit 
and  their  families  left  destitute.  There  were  men  who  killed 
themselves  without  waiting  to  be  accused,  that  they  might 
be  able  to  leave  their  property  to  their  children. 

Tiberius  left  Rome  and  took  up  his  residence  in  the  little 
island  of  Capreae,  near  Naples.  He  left  in  Rome  his  right- 
hand  man,  Sejanus,  a  mere  knight,  whom  he  had  made 
commander  of  the  praetorian  forces  (praetorian  prefect). 
The  praetorians  were  quartered  by  bands  in  the  suburbs,  and 
Sejanus  had  barracks  built  near  the  city,  where  they  could 
all  be  together.  He  went  often  to  see  them,  appointed  their 
officers,  and  sought  to  make  them  his  friends.  Sejanus 
detested  the  family  of  Germanicus,  Agrippina  because  she 
had  once  slapped  him,  and  Nero  because  he  had  upbraided 
him  for  "  abusing  an  old  man's  weakness."  He  succeeded 
in  persuading  Tiberius  that  they  wanted  to  kill  him  (a  plot 
to  make  Nero  emperor  having  been  discovered),  and  the 
mother  and  son  were  banished  far  from  Rome. 

Sejanus  had  become  the  first  man  in  the  empire.  He  was 
to  marry  the  granddaughter  of  the  emperor,  but  this  was  not 
enough.  He  prepared  to  put  an  end  to  Tiberius  and  take 
his  place.  Tiberius  was  informed  of  this.  He  resolved  to 
do  away  with  Sejanus,  and  was  wise  enough  to  carry  out  his 
plan  before  Sejanus  could  rouse  the  praetorians. 

Drusus,  the  second  son  of  Germanicus,  was  imprisoned 
and  starved  to  death.  His  mother  Agrippina  died  of  volun- 
tary starvation,  and  the  senate  thanked  Tiberius  for  not 
having  her  body  dragged  to  the  Tiber. 

Tiberius  passed  his  last  years  at  Capreae,  Irving  in  sim- 
plicity and  occupymg  himself  with  affairs  of  state,  while  the 
senate  continued  its  course  of  condemnation  at  Rome.  He 
weakened  at  last,  and  died,  leaving  his  provinces  in  good 
order  and  a  full  treasury  {^y  a.d. ). 

*  The  Character  of  Tiberius. — It  has  been  the  fashion  to 
regard  Tiberius  as  a  monster  of  cruelty.  But  later  criticism 
of  his  history  inclines  to    a  more  lenien^  judgment.      His 


THE  EMPERORS   OF  THE  AUGUSTAN  FAMILY.      295 

career  is  known  chiefly  from  the  pages  of  Tacitus,  a  strong 
partisan  of  the  senate.  It  is  probable  that  Tacitus  has 
exaggerated  all  the  faults  of  Tiberius.  A  man  who  has 
lived,  like  Tiberius,  to  the  age  of  fifty-eight,  an  honorable 
and  unselfish  life  does  not  suddenly  become  a  mad  despot. 
Circumstances  made  his  position  extremely  difficult,  and  a 
natural  severity  may  have  strengthened  with  advancing  years. 
Doubtless  Sejanus  was  an  unworthy  favorite,  but  the  verdict 
of  the  present  time  is  that  the  reign  of  Tiberius  was,  on  the 
whole,  salutary  and  wise,  as  it  certainly  was  efficient.  The 
provinces,  at  any  rate,  were  better  governed  than  ever 
before,  whatever  the  aristocratic  clique  in  Rome  may  have 
suffered. 

Gaius,  or  Caligula  (37-41  a.d.). — The  only  one  left  of 
the  sons  of  Germanicus  was  Gaius,  the  youngest,  a  man  of 
twenty-five.  When  a  child  with  his  father  in  Germany  the 
soldiers  had  nicknamed  him  Caligula  (iiUle  boot),  because  he 
wore  the  Gallic  caliga  (boot),  and  the  name  had  clung  to 
him.      The  i)raetorians  proclaimed  him  emperor. 


KOMAN    BOOTS    (CALU;>e). 

He  began  by  winning  the  hearts  of  his  subjects.  He 
celebrated  his  accession  by  distributmg  a  gratuity:  five 
hundred  denarii  (one  hundred  dollars)  to  each  of  the 
praetorians,  one  hundred  and  twenty-five  to  the  soldiers  of 
the  urban  cohorts,  and  eighty-five  to  the  legionaries;  also  a 
gift  of  seventy-five  denarii  to  each  of  the  citizens.  He 
treated  the  senate  with  respect,  set  prisoners  free,  and  per- 


^9^  THE  ROMAN  PEOPLE, 

mitted  the  circulation  of  books  forbidden  by  Tiberius. 
There  was  great  rejoicing  in  Rome.  In  three  months  one 
hundred  and  sixty  thousand  animals  were  sacrificed  to  the 
gods  as  a  thank-offering  for  so  good  an  emperor. 

The  rejoicing  did  not  last  long.  The  new  emperor  soon 
began  to  behave  like  a  madman.  He  married  his  sister,  and 
when  she  died  ordered  the  people  to  worship  her  as  a 
goddess.  He  declared  himself  a  god  and  demanded  worship  ; 
he  ordered  his  image  placed  in  all  the  temples;  he  went  to 
the  Capitol  to  converse  with  Jupiter;  he  took  his  seat  in  the 
forum  between  the  statues  of  Castor  and  Pollux  and  made 
the  people  worship  him.  He  built  a  temple  in  Rome  and 
established  priests  there  to  offer  up  sacrifices  to  him.  It  is 
even  said  that  he  made  a  priest  of  his  favorite  horse, 
Incitatus,  and  wanted  to  make  him  consul. 

He  had  the  quaestors  lashed  and  the  senators  tortured 
without  cause.  During  a  threatening  attack  of  illness, 
human  lives  were  consecrated  to  restore  him  to  health;  it 
amused  him  afterwards  to  make  them  keep  their  promise  and 
kill  themselves.  He  married  successively  three  women 
whom  he  took  away  from  their  husbands;  the  first  two  he 
soon  repudiated,  and  amused  himself  with  saying  to  the 
third,  "A  mere  sign  from  me,  and  off  comes  this  pretty 
head."     It  was  as  if  he  was  drunk  with  excess  of  power. 

One  of  his  reported  speeches  was  •  "  I  can  do  what  1  please 
with  everybody."  One  day  he  suddenly  burst  out  laughing  at 
a  banquet  he  was  giving  to  the  consuls.  "  I  was  laughing,"  he 
said,  "  at  the  thought  that  with  a  single  word  1  could  have  you 
all  strangled."  He  also  said  .  "  I  wish  that  the  Roman  people 
had  but  one  head,  that  I  might  strike  it  off  with  one  blow." 

He  ate  and  drank  excessively.  He  gave  suppers  which 
cost  ten  million  sesterces  (half  a  million  dollars).  He 
invited  circus-drivers,  gladiators,  and  mimics  to  his  palace, 
which  made  a  great  scandal  in  Rome,  for  association  with 
this  class  of  people  was  considered  a  disgrace.  He  gave 
chariot-races  and  took  part  himself  as  a  driver. 

He  very  soon  squandered  the  treasure  amassed  by  Tiberius, 


THE  EMPERORS  OF  THE  AUGUSTAN  FAMILY,      297 


and  began  to  raise  money  by  condemning  rich  men  to  death 
and  confiscating  their  property. 

One  of  his  victims  left  nothing  that  was  worth  confiscating. 
That  man  was  a  cheat,"  said  the  emperor;  "  he  might  just  as 
well  have  lived." 

He  placed  a  tax  on  all  articles  sold  in  the  Roman  market, 
and  began  to  impose  it  before  it  was  proclaimed.  Com- 
plaints being  made,  he  had  his  decree  posted  but  written  so 
fine  and  placed  so  high  that  no  one  could  read  it. 

At  Lyons  he  sold  the  furnishing  of  the  palace  at  auction; 
he  directed  the  sale  himself  and  forced  his  associates  to  buy 
at  extortionate  prices. 

While  he  was  in  Gaul  he  carried  an  executioner  with  him 
everywhere.  Every  ten  days  he  chose  from  the  list  of  tax- 
payers some  of  the  richest  men  and  condemned  them  to 
death;  this  he  called  "  balancing  iiis  accounts." 

He  longed  to  win  glory  as  a  general,  and  crossed  the 
Rhine  with  an  army  to  con- 
quer the  Germans.  All  at 
once  he  heard  that  the  enemy 
was  approaching — a  false  re- 
port, as  it  happened;  he 
leaped  from  his  chariot  to  a 
horse  and  fled  to  the  bridge 
across  the  Rhine.  He  found 
the  bridge  blocked  with  his 
troops  and,  to  make  greater 
speed,  had  his  soldiers  pass 
him  along  from  hand  to 
hand.  He  did  not  yet  give 
up  hope  of  a  triumph,  how- 
ever. While  at  dinner  one 
day  word  was  brought  him 
of  the  enemy's  approach;  he  immediately  left  the  table  and 
went  out  into  the  forest,  returning  with  German  prisoners. 
These  were  his  own  German  guards  whom  he  had  captured 


CALIGULA    AND    DRUSILLA. 


298  THE  ROMAN  PEOPLE. 

for  the  fun  of  taking  prisoners.  The  following  year  he  made 
an  expedition  against  Britain  and  stopped  at  the  shore  of  the 
Channel.  For  these  successes  he  had  himself  proclaimed 
seven  times  imperator  and  celebrated  his  triumph,  with  Gauls 
of  high  rank  as  sham  prisoners,  their  hair  dyed  red  and 
wearing  the  German  costume. 

A  large  proportion  of  the  people  were  anxious  to  be  rid 
of  this  madman  who  disgraced  even  the  Roman  armies,  and 
plots  were  made  to  kill  him.  Two  of  these  plots  failed. 
A  praetorian  officer  named  Chaerea,  whom  Caligula  had  dis- 
honored as  a  coward,  had  sworn  to  have  revenge.  One  day 
the  emperor  was  leaving  a  theatre  near  the  Palatine,  and, 
being  in  a  hurry,  left  his  German  guards  and  went  alone 
through  an  underground  passage  leading  to  the  palace;  here 
Chaerea  surprised  him  and  killed  him.  His  wife  and 
daughter  also  were  killed. 

Claudius  (41-54  a.  d.). — The  senate  assembled  and  at 
first  favored  the  restoration  of  the  former  government,  with- 
out an  emperor.  Chaerea  came  to  the  consuls  for  a  watch- 
word, as  a  sign  that  the  power  had  returned  to  the  old 
magistrates;  they  gave  him  the  word  "  Liberty." 

The  soldiers,  however,  wanted  an  emperor.  When  the 
praetorians  had  searched  the  palace  they  found  a  man  who 
hid  himself  and  besought  their  mercy;  this  was  Claudius, 
brother  of  Germanicus,  who  was  said  to  be  half-witted. 
The  praetorians  said  to  him:  "  Be  our  emperor."  And  as 
he  trembled  with  fear  so  that  he  could  not  walk,  they  carried 
him  to  their  camp  and  proclaimed  him  emperor.  Claudius 
made  them  an  address  and  promised  a  gratuity  of  fifteen 
thousand  sesterces  (750  dollars)  each. 

The  consuls  and  the  senate  had  for  defence  a  troop  of 
gladiators,  the  soldiers  of  the  urban  cohorts,  and  the  watch- 
men, who  were  always  jealous  of  the  praetorians.  Prepara- 
tions were  made  for  battle.  But  even  the  senatorial  soldiers 
demanded  an  emperor,  and  the  senators  disputed  as  to  whom 
the   choice    should    fall   on.     The  soldiers  abandoned   the 


THE  EMPERORS  OF   THE  AUGUSTAN  FAMILY.      299 


senate  and  joined  the  praetorians.  The  helpless  senators 
were  obliged  to  go  to  the  praetorian  camp  and  recognize  the 
new  emperor.  The  praetorians  now  held  the  power,  and  they 
controlled  the  empire. 

Claudius  was  a  man  of  fifty.      Tiberius  had  regarded  him 


CLAUDIUS. 


as  incompetent,  and  he  had  never  held  any  office  but  that  of 
augur.  He  had  lived  in  the  palace  and  busied  himself  with 
Etruscan  antiquities;  he  had  also  invented  three  new  letters. 
When  he  became  emperor,  he  desired  to  fulfil  his  duties 
conscientiously.  He  abolished  Caligula's  taxes,  recalled 
the  exiles,  restored  all  property  unjustly  confiscated,  and 
forbade  trials  for  high  treason.      He  iidministrated  justice  in 


300  THE  ROMAN  PEOPLE. 

person  and  earnestly  endeavored  to  be  impartial.  But 
unfortunately  he  had  the  appearance  of  a  dotard,  with 
nodding  head  and  trembling  hands;  he  stammered  and  made 
.foolish  jokes.  He  was  considered  ridiculous  and  respected 
by  none.  The  people  jeered  at  his  edicts,  in  which  he  dis- 
cussed everything  from  eclipses  to  methods  of  preserving 
wine  and  remedies  against  the  sting  of  vipers. 

He  treated  the  senate  with  deference,  and  stood  in  the 
presence  of  a  magistrate  like  a  mere  citizen.  He  was  con- 
tinually surrounded,  even  at  table,  by  guards  armed  with 
lances,  so  fearful  was  he  of  assassination.  He  allowed  no 
person  to  approach  him  without  examination,  and  would 
not  enter  the  senate  without  a  guard  of  armed  officers.  This 
irritated  the  nobles  against  him. 

He  was  passionately  fond  of  eating,  but  even  fonder  of  the 
theatre,  where  he  would  often  remain  when  everybody  else 
went  away  to  dinner.  The  people  loved  this  good-natured 
emperor,  although  they  made  fun  of  him. 

Being  himself  incapable  of  carrying  on  the  government, 
he  left  everything  to  his  freedmen:  Narcissus,  his  secretary; 
Polybius,  his  reader;  Pallas,  the  manager  of  his  estates;  and 
Callista,  who  boasted  of  having  saved  the  emperor's  life. 

The  Roman  nobles  were  furious  at  having  to  obey  men 
who  had  once  been  slaves,  and  at  seeing  Pallas  amass  an 
immense  fortune,  occupy  a  magnificent  house  and  entertain 
his  favorites  royally,  m  short  conduct  himself  like  the 
descendant  of  a  great  Roman  family.  They  looked  with 
scorn  upon  this  "  reign  of  freedmen,"  as  they  called  it. 

These  freedmen  were  either  Greeks  or  Asiatics,  of  fair 
abilities  and  education,  and  their  administration  was  not 
bad.  The  governors  were  supervised  under  Claudius  as  they 
had  been  under  Tiberius.  They  usually  employed  freedmen 
like  themselves,  and  left  them  for  a  long  period  at  the  same 
post;  they  studied  the  affairs  of  the  country  and  directed 
them  in  the  name  of  the  governor. 

The  provinces  increased  in  wealth  and  population  under 


THE  EMPERORS  OF  THE  AUGUSTAN  FAMILY.      301 


regular  government.      At  the  end  of  the  year  48  a.d.  their 
citizens  aggregated  nearly  seven  millions. 

In  Italy  a  great  harbor  of  seventy  acres  was  constructed  at 
Ostia,  with  two  piers  and  a  lighthouse.  This  enabled  large 
vessels  to  land  near  Rome,  and  premiums  were  paid  to  those 


HARBORS 

of  CLAUDIUS  and  TRU4\ 


at  Ostia 

after  Caiiiua  et  Laucieut 


references: 

Inland  if  Lighthouse 


re  of  Trajan 
g  of  wine 
0  Temple  of  Bacchue  ^ 
StorelwuMe  of  wine 

6  Temple  of  P^rtumnu* 

7  Inn  of  Pnmmixchiut 


Storehou 


who  brought  vessels  to  this  harbor.  An  attempt  was  made 
to  drain  Lake  Fucinus  by  digging  across  the  mountain  a 
tunnel  three  and  a  half  miles  long,^  which  was  to  conduct 
the  waters  of  the  lake  to  a  river. 

A  numt5er  oi  new  laws  were  passed  under  Claudius  which 
began  to  lessen  the  severity  of  the  old  Roman  law:  the 
slave  abandoned  by  his  master  for  sickness  was  declared  free; 
the  mother  was  given  the  right  to  inherit  property  from  her 
son,  and  the  son  the  right  to  dispose  of  his  own  earnings. 

Claudius  allowed  himself  to  be  ruled  by  his  wife  as  well 
as  by  his  freedmen.  His  first  empress  was  his  third  wife, 
Messalina  (the  first  two  having  been  repudiated  for  their  evil 
conduct  before  his  accession).  She  condemned  to  death  all 
persons  who  displeased  her,  and  at  length  she  publicly 
*  This  work  was  abandoned  and  not  completed  until  1874. 


302  THE  ROMAN  PEOPLE, 

married  a  young  noble.      Claudius  then  decided  to  have  her 
put  to  death. 

His  freedman  Pallas  gave  him  for  his  fourth  wife  his  own 
niece  Agrippina,  the  daughter  of  Germanicus.  She  was  a 
proud  and  ambitious  woman  and  insisted  on  sharing  the 
honors  and  power.  She  received  the  senate  and  the  foreign 
ambassadors,  and,  wearing  a  general's  mantle,  assisted  in 
the  military  reviews.  She  had  a  colony  founded  under  her 
name,  Colonia  Agrippina  (Cologne).  Such  a  woman  had 
never  been  seen  before  in  Rome. 

Claudius  had  a  son,  Britannicus,  who  was  to  succeed  him. 
Agrippina  persuaded  him  to  adopt  Nero,  her  son  by  her 
first  husband,  and  give  him  his  daughter  Octavia  in  marriage. 
Claudius  also  bestowed  on  him  the  proconsular  power  and 
in  his  name  distributed  a  gratuity  to  the  soldiers  and  a  gift 
to  the  people.  He  finally  appointed  him  his  successor  in 
place  of  Britannicus. 

When  Agrippina  saw  her  son  assured  of  the  succession  she 
poisoned  her  husband.  Whether  or  not  this  i,s  true,  Claudius 
died  in  54  a.d. 

Nero  (54-68  A.D.). — On  the  death  of  Claudius,  Nero 
Claudius  Caesar  Drusus  Germanicus,  the  seventeen -year-old 
son  of  Agrippina,  became  emperor.  He  had  learned  to 
write  verses,  declaim,  paint,  and  sing,  accompanying  him- 
self on  the  lyre;  he  knew  nothing  of  arms  or  affairs  of 
state. 

At  first  his  mother  governed  with  him,  writing  the  govern- 
ment despatches,  receiving  the  ambassadors,  and  reviewing 
the  soldiers.  The  law  forbade  a  woman  to  sit  in  the  senate, 
so  Agrippina  had  the  senators  come  to  the  palace  and,  sitting 
behind  a  curtain,  took  part  in  their  discussion.  When  her 
son  went  about  the  city  she  either  shared  his  litter  or  made 
him  walk  beside  hers. 

Nero  quickly  wearied  of  this  surveillance,  and  wanted  to 
be  rid  of  his  wife  Octavia  besides.  Agrippina  upbraided  him 
and,  it  is  said,  threatened  to  proclaim  Britannicus  emperor. 


COIN    OF   NERO. 


THE  EMPERORS  OF   THE  AUGUSTAN  FAMILY.      303 

Nero  had   his  brother  poisoned   and  dismissed   his  mother 
from  the  palace. 

Henceforth  he  governed  alone,  and  for  the  first  five  years 
succeeded  in  pleasing  his  subjects.  He  followed  the  advice 
of  Burrus,  the  praetorian  pre- 
fect, and  Seneca,  his  tutor. 
He  treated  the  senate  with 
respect  and  seemed  anxious  to 
be  a  good  monarch.  When  two 
death-sentences  were  brought 
to  him  one  day  for  his  signature, 
he  exclaimed,  "Would  that  I 
could  not  write!  " 

Even  at  this  time  his  amuse- 
ments were  of  rather  a  singular 
nature  for  an  emperor.  He 
roamed  the  streets  at  night  disguised  as  a  slave,  accompanied 
by  a  band  of  young  men,  beating  the  passers  by  and  breaking 
open  the  shops.  At  the  theatre  he  encouraged  the  people 
to  shout,  break  the  benches  and  fight,  while  he  threw  objects 
into  the  air  and  caught  them. 

Then  he  fell  in  love  with  Poppaea,  the  wife  of  one  of  his 
companions,  a  coquette  who,  to  preserve  her  exquisite  com- 
plexion, bathed  in  asses'  milk  and  wore  a  mask  in  the  sun- 
light. He  first  disposed  of  his  mother  Agrippina,  then  of 
his  wife  Octavia.  He  accused  his  mother  of  plotting  against 
his  life,  and  delivered  her  to  his  soldiers  to  be  killed.  The 
senate  voted  sacrifices  to  the  gods  for  the  salvation  of  the 
emperor's  life,  and  on  his  return  to  Rome  Nero  was  received 
with  great  ceremony  as  if  returning  from  a  victory. 

But  when  he  repudiated  Octavia  in  order  to  marry 
Poppaea,  the  people  invaded  the  palace  and  overturned  the 
statues  of  Poppaea  in  their  indignation,  Nero  revenged 
himself  by  accusing  Octavia  of  a  crime  of  which  she  was 
wholly  innocent.  She  was  nevertheless  killed  and  her  head 
brought  to  Poppaea. 


304  THE  ROMAN  PEOPLE, 

Burrus  having  died  in  62  a.d.,  Nero  appointed  one  of  his 
flatterers  to  be  prefect  in  his  place;.  Then  began  a  series  of 
prosecutions  for  high  treason,  and  the  government  became 
as  merciless  as  in  the  days  of  Tiberius. 

NeroWas  vain  of  his  powers  as  a  singer,  and  began  to 
show  himself  first  in  a  theatre  built  in  his  own  gardens  and 
reserved  for  the  nobles.  It  was  not  long,  however,  before 
he  determined  to  display  his  talent  before  the  whole  people, 
and  he  sang  in  the  public  theatre  of  Rome  in  the  dress  of  a 
singer.  When  he  had  finished  he  followed  the  rule  of  the 
profession  and  sank  on  one  knee,  extending  his  hand  to  the 
audience  in  supplication.  There  were  among  the  audience 
groups  of  men  who  were  paid  to  applaud.  Furthermore 
there  were  spies  among  the  audience  and  no  one  dared 
refrain  from  applauding.  This  fancy  of  Nero's  made  a  great 
scandal  in  Rome,  but  it  was  impossible  to  say  anything 
against  it,  and  the  senate  offered  sacrifices  for  the  "  divine 
voice  ' '  of  the  emperor. 

In  64  A.D.  the  oil  warehouses  in  Rome  caught  fire,  and, 
fanned  by  the  wind,  the  flames  spread  so  that  in  a  week's 
time  ten  of  the  fourteen  districts  of  the  city  were  burned. 
Nero  was  absent  from  Rome,  and  returned  to  find  his  palace 
in  ashes.  Without  waiting  for  a  guard  he  ran  to  give  what 
aid  he  could,  and  took  all  the  homeless  people  into  his 
gardens.  He  was,  however,  so  universally  detested  that  he 
was  accused  of  setting  fire  to  the  city  to  amuse  himself.^ 

There  is  a  tale  of  Nero,  clad  in  the  costume  of  a  singer,  sit- 
ting lyre  in  hand  on  the  top  of  the  Palatine  hill,  singing  the 
Destruction  of  Troy  as  he  watched  the  city  burn. 

Rome  was  rebuilt  in  greater  beauty,  with  wide,  straight 
streets,  houses  of  good  stone,  less  lofty  and  farther  apart, 
and  arcades  along  the  sides  of  the  principal  streets.  Nero 
had  a  great  park  laid  out,  with  trees,  lawns,  ponds,  and  a 
palace  which  was  the  most  luxurious  Rome  had  ever  seen 

[^  See  p.  367  for  the  cruel  persecution  of  the  Christians  which  grew 
out  of  this  conflagration.] 


THE  EMPERORS   OF   THE  AUGUSTAN  FAMILY.      305 

and  was  called  the  "Golden  House"  on  account  of  its 
extravagant  decoration;  there  were  halls  whose  ceilings  were 
of  ivory  tablets  made  to  turn  and  shower  down  a  rain  of 
perfume  or  flowers;  there  was  also  a  room  which  revolved 
constantly. 

Nero  surrounded  himself  with  a  luxury  unknown  to  the 
Romans.  He  had  furniture  of  mother-of-pearl  and  ivory, 
garments  of  purple  silk  and  wool  which  he  wore  but  oncie; 
he  travelled  with  a  thousand  chariots.  He  distributed 
presents,  even  estates,  among  actors,  musicians,  and 
gladiators. 

His  mules  were  shod  with  silver.  Poppaea  had  her  horses 
shod  with  gold,  and  was  accompanied  by  a  herd  of  five  hundred 
asses  to  supply  milk  for  her  bath. 

Money  began  to  run  short,  and  Nero  reduced  the  weight 
of  the  coins.  He  robbed  the  Roman  temples,  also  those  of 
Asia  and  Greece,  of  gold  and  silver  and  even  statuary.  He 
made  it  a  rule  that  every  will  should  contain  a  bequest  to 
the  emperor. 

A  number  of  nobles  at  Rome  conspired  against  Nero's 
life,  intending  to  make  Piso,  a  wealthy  and  popular  senator, 
emperor  in  his  place.  One  of  the  consuls,  a  praetorian 
prefect,  and  several  officers,  were  in  the  plot.  A  senator  was 
appointed  to  stab  Nero  during  the  games  at  the  circus. 
Unfortunately  for  him  his  elaborate  preparations  roused  the 
suspicions  of  one  of  the  freedmen,  who  denounced  him  to 
the  emperor.  Nero  sent  word  to  the  conspirators  to  kill 
themselves,  and  they  opened  their  veins.  Seneca  received 
the  same  order  because  he  had  not  revealed  the  plot.  A 
woman  named  Epicharis  was  put  to  the  torture,  but  refused 
to  reveal  anything;  her  limbs  were  so  bruised  that  she  had 
to  be  brought  on  a  litter  to  the  second  day's  torture. 
During  the  process  she  managed  to  pass  a  cord  around  her 
neck  and  strangled  herself  (65  a.d.). 

The  succeeding  years  saw  many  innocent  nobles  put  to 
death.     Thrasea,  who  was  the  best  known  of  these  and  the 


3o6  »  THE  ROMAN  PEOPLE. 

most  respected  member  of  the  senate,  was  condemned 
because  he  had  been  absent  from  the  senate  for  three  years 
and  had  not  sacrificed  to  the  gods  for  the  emperor's  health 
or  for  his  "  divine  voice."  Sentence  was  pronounced  by 
the  senate  and  brought  to  the  victim  by  a  quaestor.  Thrasea 
dismissed  his  friends  that  they  might  not  be  compromised, 
prevented  the  suicide  of  his  wife,  and  then  opened  the  veins 
of  his  arm,  and  said  to  the  quaestor,  "  Look,  young  man, 
for  you  live  in  an  age  when  it  is  well  to  be  fortified  by 
examples  of  courage." 

Nero  was  anxious  to  hear  his  voice  admired  by  the  Greeks, 
who  were  considered  the  most  artistic  people  of  the  period. 
He  accordingly  went  to  Greece  with  a  numerous  escort  of 
actors  and  musicians.  He  went  from  city  to  city,  singing 
at  every  gathering,  at  Olympia,  the  Isthmus,  and  Delphi 
(the  Greeks  had  changed  the  date  of  the  games  to  coincide 
with  his  visit).  Everywhere  he  received  the  prize.  At 
Corinth  a  singer  tried  to  contend  with  him,  and  Nero  had 
him  strangled.  He  came  home  enchanted  with  his  trip. 
"  The  Greeks  are  the  only  people  who  know  how  to  listen," 
he  said,  and  as  a  revvard  he  read  before  the  crowd  assembled 
for  the  Olympian  games  a  decree  declaring  the  Greek  cities 
free.  Returning  to  Italy,  he  travelled  in  a  chariot  drawn  by 
white  horses;  every  city  through  which  he  passed  he  entered 
by  a  breach  in  the  wall,  as  the  winner  of  the  Olympian 
games  had  done  in  old  times.  He  crossed  the  city  of  Rome 
in  triumph,  robed  in  purple,  the  Olympian  crown  on  his  head, 
and  in  front  of  him  the  eighteen  hunded  crowns  he  had  won 
in  Greece.  These  crowns  he  hung  in  the  halls  of  his  palace, 
and  began  to  spare  his  voice;  he  no  longer  addressed  the 
soldiers,  held  a  napkin  in  front  of  his  mouth,  and  had  his 
singing-master  follow  him  everywhere  with  warnings  to  spare 
himself. 

Conquest  of  Britain. — After  Caesar's  expedition  the 
Britons  remained  independent  in  their  island,  but  kept  up 
their  relations  with  the  Gallic  tribes  whose  language  was  the 


THE  EMPERORS  OF  THE  AUGUSTA}^  FAMILY.     3^7 

same  as  their  own.  On  both  sides  of  the  Channel  Celtic  was 
spoken  and  the  druids  were  obeyed.  The  Celts  of  Britain 
excited  the  Celts  of  Gaul  against  Rome  and  received  deserters 
from  the  Roman  army. 

The  Roman  government  determined  to  conquer  Britain. 
Four  legions,  numbering  forty  thousand  men,  were  sent 
there  during  the  reign  of  Claudius. 

The  Celts  were  brave,  warlike,  and  good  horsemen,  but 
they  were  broken  up  in  small  tribes  and  were  poorly 
organized.  Their  foot-soldiers  were  without  helmets  or 
cuirasses,  their  shields  were  too  small,  their  javelins  too 
short,  and  their  spears  too  heavy. 

The  Romans  landed  without  a  battle  and  camped  on  the 
bank  of  the  Thames  to  wait  for  Claudius.  On  the  arrival  of 
the  emperor  they  crossed  the  river  and  routed  the  barbarians 
under  Caractacus,  king  of^Camulodunum.  The  other  chiefs 
sued  for  peace,  and  Claudius  returned  to  Rome  with  the 
surname  Britannicus  (conqueror  of  Britain)  (44  a.d.). 

The  general  remained  four  years  in  the  country  to  organize 
the  new  province  of  Britain.  A  colony  of  Roman  veterans 
founded  a  Roman  city,  Camulodunum,  the  seat  of  the 
governor.  The  Romans  began  to  operate  the  tin-mines, 
Roman  merchants  came,  and  Roman  cities  were  established. 
Of  these  the  most  important  was  Londinium  (London),  near 
the  mouth  of  the  Thames. 

The  Romans  had  with  great  difficulty  subjugated  the  great 
plain  which  forms  the  south  of  England.  The  inhabitants 
of  the  western  mountains  (Wales)  made  a  strong  defence, 
aided  by  Caractacus,  who  had  taken  refuge  there.  The 
peoples  of  the  west  and  north  arranged  to  attack  the  Roman 
province,  but  the  Romans  defeated  them  one  after  another. 
Caractacus  offered  battle  in  a  valley,  but  his  ill-protected 
soldiers  were  slaughtered ;  he  himself  took  refuge  with  the 
queen  of  a  neighboring  people  and  was  by  her  delivered  to 
the  Romans. 

On  being  brought  to  Rome  he  was  astounded  at  the  sight  of 


3o8  THE  ROMAN  PEOPLE. 

the  structures  of  the  great  city.  "  How  is  it  possible,"  he  said, 
"  that  you,  who  have  such  magnificent  palaces,  should  envy  us 
our  poor  huts  ?  " 

The  conquest  was  not  completed.  The  Romans  never 
occupied  the  mountain  region  of  Wales,  but  confined  them- 
selves to  establishing  strongly  fortified  cities  on  their  western 
border  to  keep  back  the  mountaineers.^  The  peoples  of 
Britain  revolted  again,  and  were  only  subdued  after  a  long 
and  severe  war. 

On  the  island  of  Mona  (Anglesey)  there  was  a  sacred 
forest  where  the  druids  assembled  to  sacrifice  human  victims 
and  decide .  matters  of  common  interest.  They  excited  the 
Britons  against  the  invaders,  and  the  Roman  governor 
determined  to  destroy  their  sanctuary.  His  army  accord- 
ingly crossed  the  strait  which  separated  the  island  from  the 
mainland.  The  druids  pronounced  imprecations  upon  them 
with  their  hands  raised  to  heaven.  Women  dressed  in  black, 
with  dishevelled  hair  and  torches  in  their  hands,  ran  about 
like  the  Furies,  urging  on  the  warriors.  The  Romans 
scattered  the  defenders,  cut  down  the  trees,  and  destroyed 
the  altars. 

The  Britons  were  irritated  against  the  veterans  for  taking 
possession  of  the  houses  and  lands  of  the  inhabitants  of 
Camulodunum,  and  against  the  Roman  merchants  and 
bankers  for  trying  to  extract  money  from  a  poor  country. 

While  the  army  was  busy  at  Mona,  they  rose  suddenly, 
massacred  not  only  the  soldiers  but  all  the  foreigners  settled 
in  the  country  (said  to  number  seventy  thousand),  and 
destroyed  the  Roman  cities.  A  legion  which  came  to  the 
assistance  of  Camulodunum  was  almost  completely  exter- 
minated. The  revolt  was  led  by  a  woman.  Queen  Boadicea, 
who  had  been  beaten  by  Roman  officers,  her  two  daughters 
insulted,  and  her  inheritance  confiscated. 

^  The  names  of  several  cities  have  preserved  the  memory  of  the  forti- 
fied camp,  castra ;  such  are  Cserleon  {Castra  Legiones)  and  Chester 
(Castra). 


THE  EMPERORS  OF  THE  AUGUSTAN  FAMILY.      3^9 

The  governor  returned  from  Mona  with  only  ten  thousand 
men,  to  find  himself  face  to  face  with  an  immense  army  of 
Britons,  accompanied  by  their  wives.  Boadicea,  mounted 
on  a  chariot  with  her  two  daughters,  passed  before  the  ranks 
saying,  "  This  is  a  time  to  win  or  die,  and  1  will  lead  the 
way."  The  small  Roman  army  succeeded  in  surrounding 
and  slaughtering  this  horde  of  barbarians  (supposed  to  be 
eighty  thousand  in    number).      Boadicea    poisoned    herself 

(6l    A.D.). 

The  Romans,  having  subjugated  the  south,  established  a 
camp  of  two  legions  in  the  north,  at  Eboracum  (York). 
Then  when  they  had  finished  the  war  with  the  mountaineers 
in  the  west  they  attacked  those  in  the  north.  Agricola, 
father-in-law  of  the  historian  Tacitus,  made  war  on  them  for 
seven  years  (78-85  a.d.).  He  had  provisions  brought  to 
this  barren  region  by  a  special  fleet,  and  gradually  advanced 
with  four  legions  to  that  part  of  Scotland  where  the  two  seas 
approach  one  another  to  form  an  isthmus.  The  moun- 
taineers of  Caledonia  (north  of  Scotland)  came  down  to 
attack  them,  but  were  driven  back. 

The  emperors  did  not  wish  to  occupy  Scotland  and 
Ireland.  They  preferred  to  keep  their  frontier  farther  south 
and  defend  it  by  a  line  of  fortifications. 

SOURCES. 

Eutropius Bk.  vii,  §§  i  i-i  5. 

Paterculus   . . .   Bk.  11,  §§  1 23-131. 

Suetonius Tiberius,  Gains  {Caligula),  Claudius,  Nero. 

Tacitus Annals. 

PARALLEL  READING. 

Duruy cc.  Ixxii-lxv. 

Merivale cc.  xlii-lv. 

Botsford c.  ix,  p.  218-c.  x,  p.  231. 

Morey c.  xxiv. 

Myers c.  xvi  to  p.  347. 

Pelham Bk.  vi,  c.  iv. 

Capes Early  Empire. 

Bury . .   Student's  Roman  Empire,  cc.  xii-xviii. 

Taylor Constitutional  and  Political  History   of  Rome, 

c.  xix. 


CHAPTER   XXI. 
THE     FLAVIANS. 

Revolts  against  Nero  (68  a.d.). — Nero  no  longer  con- 
cerned himself  with  the  government.  The  people  were  stilh 
attached  to  him  because  he  gave  them  shows  and  made  them 
distributions.  The  soldiers,  however,  complained  that  they 
were  receiving  no  pay,  and  were  ashamed  to  have  a  singer 
for  their  commander. 

Vindex,  the  governor  of  Lugdunese  Gaul,  set  the  example 
of  revolt.  He  gathered  an  army  of  Gauls  and  announced 
his  intention  to  deliver  Rome  from  this  **  evil  singer.''  He 
wrote  to  Galba,  the  governor  of  Spain,  and  offered  him  the 
command.  Galba  had  only  one  legion,  but  he  raised  another 
and  declared  himself  the  supporter  of  the  senate  against 
Nero.  The  governor  of  Lusitania,  who  was  Otho,  the  former 
husband  of  Poppaea,  gave  Galba  his  gold  and  silver  plate  to 
pay  his  legions.     The  governor  of  Africa  joined  the  revolt. 

The  people  of  Lyons  had  called  on  the  two  legions  of 
Germany  to  aid  them  against  the  Gauls.  The  armies  met 
near  Vesontium  (Besan^on).  The  Roman  commander 
wished  to  discuss  the  situation  with  Vindex,  but  his  soldiers 
threw  themselves  on  the  Gauls  and  killed  twenty  thousand 
of  them.  Vindex  committed  suicide.  The  legions  had  had 
enough  of  Nero,  however,  and  they  broke  his  images.  The 
army  of  the  Danube  did  the  same. 

Nero  had  taken  no  steps  against  Vindex.  At  the  beginning 
of  the  trouble  he  was  at  Naples  watching  the  wrestling- 
matches;   later  he  was  absorbed  in  trying  musical  instru- 

310 


THE  FLA  y I  Am,  3" 

mints.     When  he  learned  of  the  revolt  in  Spain  he  lost  his 

head  completely.     The  praetorians  at  Rome  deserted  him, 

and  he  fled  to  the  house  of  one  of  his  frecdmen  near  Rome. 

When    he    saw   his    own    cavalry   pursuing    him    he    killed 

himself. 

Me  is  said  to  have  hesitated  long  before  he  committed  the 
fatal  act,  weeping  and  exclaiming  again  and  agam,  "  What  an 
artist  will  be  lost  to  the  world  !" 

The  people  would  not  believe  that  he  was  dead,  and  for  a 
long  time  his  reappearance  was  confidently  expected.  In 
Asia  a  slave  impersonated  the  dead  emperor  and  incited 
a  revolt. 

Nero  was  the  last  survivor  of  the  family  of  Caesar. 

Galba,  Otho,  and  Vitellius  (^68-69  a.  d.  ). — The  praetorians 
proclaimed  (Jalba  as  Nero's  successor.  The  senate  took  the 
oath  of  allegiance,  and  the  other  governors  recognized  him. 

Galba  came  to  Rome,  a  man  of  seventy-three  years  and 
afflicted  with  gout.  His  policy  was  economy  and  the 
restoration  of  discipline.  He  refused  to  give  the  praetorians 
the  money  promised  them  in  his  name  by  the  praetorian 
prefect.  "  I  enroll  soldiers,"  he  said,  "I  do  not  buy 
them."  He  made  no  public  distributions  and  was  con- 
sidered hard  and  miserly.  He  took  for  his  colleague  and 
successor  a  young  noble  named  Piso,  a  conscientious  and 
haughty  man.  The  praetorians  disliked  Piso  and,  moreover, 
the  emperor  promised  them  no  gratuity  on  presenting  him 
to  them. 

The  praetorians  were  displeased  and  began  to  treat  with 
Otho,  formerly  the  favorite  of  Nero  and  the  husband  of 
Poppaea;  he  was  the  man  who  had  just  been  giving  money 
to  Galba.  He  had  won  the  hearts  of  his  soldiers  by  treating 
them  all  as  comrades.  The  praetorians  brought  him  to  their 
camp  and  proclaimed  him  emperor.  Galba  was  assassinated 
after  a  reign  of  seven  months.  Otho  restored  the  statues  of 
Nero,  but  condemned  no  one  (69  a.d.). 

The  soldiers  on  the  frontiers  were  no  longer  willing  to 


312  THE  ROMAN  PEOPLE, 

accept  any  emperor  that  the  praetorians  might  impose  on 
them.  The  army  of  the  Rhine,  which  was  the  largest  and 
bravest,  set  up  an  emperor  in  its  turn,  proclaiming  its  own 
general,  Vitellius,  the  governor  of  Lower  Germany.  The 
army  then  marched  on  Italy. 

The  army  of  Britain  and  the  legion  of  Lyons  declared 
themselves  for  Vitellius.  This  gave  him  eleven  legions  in 
all,  and  these  l^^ons  were  accompanied  by  an  equal  number 
of  auxiliaries,  mainly  Germans.  The  most  important  and 
the  best  paid  of  these  were  the  Batavians,  who  formed  the 
chief  corps  of  ca\-aln'. 

This  semi-German  Roman  army  swept  across  Gaul  like  an 
invasion  of  barbarians,  leaving  a  trail  of  pillage  and 
massacre. 

It  was  against  Galba  that  the  soldiers  had  revolted,  but, 
hearing  on  the  road  that  the  praetorians  had  put  Otho  in  his 
place,  they  continued  their  march  and  entered  Italy. 

Otho,  having  no  army  in  Italy,  gathered  together  what  he 
could  find  in  Rome:  the  praetorians,  the  urban  cohorts, 
detachments  from  the  l^ons,  the  recruits  who  had  just  been 
enrolled,  and  two  thousand  professional  gladiators.  With 
these  he  departed  on  foot,  wearing  a  suit  of  iron  armor  and 
living  in  great  simplicity  among  his  soldiers.  He  knew  how 
to  make  his  men  like  him,  and  he  imposed  no  discipline  on 
them. 

Otho  was  advised  to  await  the  arrival  of  the  army  of  the 
Danube,  which  was  marching  to  his  assistance,  but  he  risked 
immediate  battle  and  was  utterly  defeated. 

Otho  had  remained  in  another  camp  with  his  guard. 
When  news  of  the  rout  reached  him  he  killed  himself, 
having  reigned  only  eighty-eight  days. 

The  news  of  the  defeat  was  brought  by  a  soldier.  Otho's 
friends  would  not  believe  it,  and  one  of  them  said,  "  This  is  a 
coward  who  has  fled  from  the  battle."  The  soldier,  without  a 
word,  fell  on  his  sword.  Otho  was  greatly  moved  and  cried, 
"  I  will  not  expose  the  lives  of  such  devoted  defenders." 

His  soldiers  urged  him  to  continue  the  war.    "  One  battle  is 


THE  FLAVIANS.  3^3 

enough,"  he  said,  and  proceeded  to  dismiss  his  friends,  dis- 
tribuie  his  money,  and  burn  his  papers.  He  then  asked  for  cold 
water  and  two  daggers,  and  lay  down  to  sleep.  At  dawn  he 
awoke  and  plunged  a  knife  into  his  heart. 

The  praetorians  were  disbanded.  The  soldiers  of  Vitellius 
ravaged  the  country  and  fought  among  themselves.  At 
Pavia  a  legion  massacred  its  own  auxiliaries. 

Vitellius  finally  reached  Italy  with  an  army  of  sixty 
thousand  soldjers  and  a  retinue  of  servants,  comedians,  and 
drivers.  He  was  a  fat  man  and  devoted  to  the  pleasures  of 
the  table.  When  he  had  eaten  too  much  he  caused  himself 
to  vomit  in  order  that  he  might  begin  again.  He  paid  no 
attention  to  government  and  could  not  even  maintain  order; 
he  let  his  soldiers  do  what  they  please. 

At  Rome  Vitellius  made  no  opposition  to  the  senate  and 
even  allowed  it  to  make  a  number  of  reforms,  but  his 
gluttony  disgusted  everybody.  He  accepted  invitations  to 
several  dinners  on  the  same  day,  and  spent  enormous  sums 
of  money  on  his  table;  he  invented  a  dish,  "  Minerva's 
shield,"  which  was  made  of  fishes'  livers,  peacocks'  and 
pheasants'  brains,  eels'  roe,  and  flamingoes'  tongues. 

Vespasian  (69  a.d.). — There  was  an  army  in  Judaea  at 
this  time  fighting  the  Jews,  who  were  in  a  state  of  rebellion 
(see  page  3 1 7).  They  refused  to  accept  the  emperor  created 
by  the  army  of  the  Rhine,  and  proclaimed  in  his  stead  their 
general,  Vespasian.  The  two  armies  in  S}Tia  and  Eg^^pt, 
who  were  in  perpetual  rivalry  with  the  legions  of  Germany, 
recognized  Vespasian  as  emperor.  The  army  of  the  Danube 
also  supported  him  and  was  the  first  to  enter  Italy. 

The  armies  of  Vitellius  and  Vespasian  met  near  Cremona, 
and  fought  all  night.  The  morning  brought  news  that  the 
SvTian  legions  were  at  hand  to  reinforce  the  troops  of 
Vespasian,  and  the  Vitellians  decided  to  surrender.  The 
two  armies  were  reconciled  and  joined  in  sacking  the  city  of 
Cremona,  which  they  then  burned,  and  sold  its  inhabitants. 

Vitellius  at  Rome  arranged  a  settlement  with  the  brother 


314 


THE  ROMAN  PEOPLE. 


of  Vespasian,  the  prefect  of  the  city,  and  publicly  announced 
his  abdication.  But  the  soldiers  and  people  raised  their 
voices  in  remonstrance  and  forced  him  back  to  his  palace. 
A  battle  ensued  at   the  Capitol,   in  which  the  brother  of 


VESPASIAN. 


Vespasian  was  captured  and  killed,  and  the  temple  of  the 
Capitol  burned. 

Then  the  army  of  the  Danube  arrived  before  Rome,  forced 
its  way  into  the  Campus  Martins,  stormed  the  praetorian 
barracks,  killing  all  its  defenders,  and  entered  Rome.  They 
searched  the  houses  for  the  soldiers  of  Vitellius  and  cut 
their  throats.  (Being  Germans,  they  were  easily  recognized 
by  their  great  stature. ) 

Vitellius  was  dragged  from  his  hiding-place  to  the  square 
with  his  hands  tied  behind  him  and  a  rope  around  his  neck. 


THE  FLAVUm.  3^5 

His  garments  were  destroyed  and  his  hair  torn  out  by  the 
mob;  they  threw  mud  at  him,  called  him  a  drunkard,  and 
made  fun  of  his  red  face  and  his  fat  stomach.  He  was 
hacked  to  pieces  with  swords  and  his  body  thrown  into  the 
Tiber. 

The  Revolt  of  Civilis. — In  69  a.d.  the  Batavian  chieftain 
and  patriot  organized  a  great  revolt  among  his  own  people, 
which  was  joined  by  many  of  the  German  troops  of  the 
Roman  army.  He  had  been  grossly  abused  by  Nero  and 
had  sworn  vengeance  on  Rome.  At  first  he  had  pretended 
to  be  in  favor  of  Vespasian  as  against  Vitellius,  but  soon 
threw  off  the  mask  and  tried  to  set  up  an  independent  state. 
This  may  be  reckoned  as  the  first  of  the  long  series  of 
struggles  by  the  peoples  of  the  Netherlands  against  foreign 
domination — Roman,  Spanish,  and  French.  Nine  legions 
from  Italy,  Spain,  and  Britain  were  required  before  peace 
could  be  secured. 

The  example  of  Civilis  stirred  up  the  Gauls,  and  Sabinus 
emulated  his  attempt  to  take  advantage  of  the  troubles  at 
Rome,  but  he  was  subdued,  captured,  and  executed  at 
Rome.  The  representative  assembly  of  Gaul  (see  page  318) 
had  voted  to  remain  faithful  to  Rome. 

Destruction  of  Jerusalem. — The  little  kingdom  of  the 
Jews  had  become  a  Roman  province,  Judaea,  governed  by  a 
procurator  who  occupied  the  king's  palace.  There  was 
still,  however,  a  Jewish  nation. 

The  Jews  continued  to  regard  themselves  as  the  chosen 
people,  the  only  worshippers  of  the  true  God,  and  destined 
to  be  rulers  of  the  world.  The  emperors  had  allowed  the 
Jews  to  retain  their  Council  of  Ancients,^  which  was  made 
up  of  priests  and  doctors  of  the  law ;  this  was  the  real  head 
of  the  people,  deciding  questions  of  public  interest,  adminis- 
tering justice  and  the  affairs  of  the  Temple. 

The  Temple  of  Jerusalem   was  the  only  spot  on  earth 

1  This  was  called  the  Sanhedrim,  a  corruption  of  the  Greek  word 
Synedrion. 


3i6 


THE  ROMAN  PEOPLE, 


where  the  Jewish  rites  could  be  celebrated.     Crowds  gathered 
there  for  the  great  feast  of  the  Passover. 

The  Jewish  nation  did  not  consist  only  of  the  inhabitants 
of  Judaea.  There  were  Jews  settled  in  almost  all  the  large 
cities  of  the  East;  at  Alexandria  they  occupied  two  wards. 
These  scattered  Jews  spoke  Greek,  but  did  not  lose  their 


GOLDEN  GATEWAY  OF  THH  TEMPLE  AT  JERUSALEM. 

national  distinction.  They  sent  their  annual  contribution 
to  the  Temple,  they  endeavored  to  proselytize  their  neigh- 
bors, and  in  several  cities  they  even  had  a  council  and  a 
chief.  They  were  exempt  from  military  service.  The 
Roman  emperors  dealt  considerately  with  the  Jews.  The 
Jewish  religion  forbade  the  making  of  an  image  of  man  or 
beast;  the  Roman  money  used  in  Judaea  did  not  bear  the 
emperor's  head,  and  the  soldiers  were  forbidden  to  carry 
their  standards  into  the  city   of   Jerusalem.     One   of  the 


THE  FLAVIANS,  31? 

governors  set  up  in  the  palace  shields  consecrated  to  a  god, 
and  Tiberius  made  him  remove  them.  Romans  were  for- 
bidden to  enter  the  Temple. 

Nevertheless  there  were  a  number  of  Jews  who  thought  it 
sacrilege  to  obey  a  foreign  unbeliever  and  to  pay  him  taxes. 
When  the  Roman  government  ordered  a  new  census  to  be 
taken  in  Judaea,  Judas  of  Giskala,  a  Jewish  patriot,  declared 
it  shameful  to  recognize  any  other  master  than  the  Lord  of 
hosts.      He  rebelled,  and  was  captured  and  executed. 

Caligula,  who  thought  himself  a  god,  ordered  a  statue  of 
himself  to  be  placed  in  the  Temple.  The  Jews  declared  that 
they  would  die  rather  than  permit  such  sacrilege,  and  the 
emperor  was  dissuaded  from  the  plan.  The  Jews  were  not 
quieted,  however.  A  party  known  as  the  Zealots  began  to 
preach  revolt.  They  armed  themselves  and  assembled  in 
the  desert ;  after  burning  the  homes  of  the  inhabitants  who 
were  resigned  to  Roman  rule,  they  withdrew  into  the  moun- 
tains and  began  a  sort  of  guerrilla  warfare  against  the  Roman 
soldiers.  Some  even  came  to  Jerusalem  to  make  away  with 
all  who  supported  the  Romans;  these  guerrillas  were  called 
**  the  assassins. "  Miracles  were  reported  and  a  great  victory 
predicted. 

In  66  A.D.  the  revolt  became  general.  The  wealthy  Jews 
favored  the  Roman  government  because  it  maintained  order. 
The  rest,  however,  accused  the  Roman  governor  of  enrich- 
ing himself  at  their  expense,  and  caused  a  riot  in  the  streets 
of  Jerusalem. 

Foreigners  had  always  been  allowed  to  enter  the  outer 
court  of  the  Temple  to  pray  and  to  sacrifice  to  the  God  of 
the  Jews.  This  was  now  forbidden  by  the  new  master  of 
ceremonies;  the  partisans  of  the  Romans  complained,  and 
there  was  fighting  in  the  streets  of  Jerusalem  for  several  days. 

There  were  only  a  few  Roman  soldiers  in  Jerusalem.  The 
Zealots  entered  the  city  and  drove  out  the  rich  citizens,  seized 
the  Temple  and  the  king's  palace,  and  finally  massacred  the 
Roman  soldiers  and  the  leaders  of  the  Roman  party. 


3i8  THE  ROMAN  PEOPLE. 

The  governor  of  Syria  came  to  Jerusalem  with  an  army, 
captured  one  of  the  suburbs,  but,  in  attempting  to  pass  the 
wall  of  the  city,  was  defeated  with  the  loss  of  his  baggage 
and  engines  of  war.  The  Jews  now  had  the  mastery  of  all 
the  ancient  kingdom  of  Judaea. 

Vespasian  was  sent  by  Nero  with  three  legions  and 
auxiliaries  (fifty  thousand  men  in  all)  to  regain  control  of 
the  province.  He  advanced  with  great  deliberation,  taking 
the  fortresses  one  by  one.  The  Jews  had  no  army  and 
did  not  try  to  check  the  Roman  advance;  they  did,  how- 
ever, kill  themselves  rather  than  surrender  their  strongholds. 
Two  campaigns  were  necessary  to  subdue  the  country  around 
Jerusalem.  When  Vespasian  was  proclaimed  emperor  he 
returned  with  his  army  to  Rome  (69  a.d.).  The  war  came 
to  a  standstill  and  the  rebels  were  thus  for  more  than  three 
years  masters  of  Jerusalem.  During  all  this  time  they  fought 
among  themselves. 

Vespasian  at  length  dispatched  his  son  Titus  with  sixty 
thousand  men  (70  a.d.).  For  five  months  the  Romans 
besieged  Jerusalem.  The  city  was  very  strong,  surrounded 
on  three  sides  by  precipices,  and  defended  on  the  open  side 
by  three  walls.  Inside,  the  Temple  and  the  king's  palace 
had  each  a  wall.  The  besieged  were  short  of  supplies, 
having  destroyed  their  provisions  in  the  riots,  and  the  city 
was  full  of  Jews  who  had  come  to  the  Passover.  It  was 
therefore  not  long  before  famine  set  in.  Many  died  of 
hunger;  others,  in  attempting  to  save  themselves,  were  taken 
by  the  Romans  and  crucified  (five  hundred  in  a  single  day, 
it  is  said). 

Titus  was  determined  to  force  his  way  into  the  city.  It 
took  him  six  weeks  to  make  an  opening  in  the  wall,  and 
even  then  he  had  to  take  the  lower  city  house  by  house. 
He  stormed  the  palace,  then  the  Temple,  and  finally  the 
upper  city.  The  Temple  was  burned.  The  city  of  Jerusalem 
was  destroyed. 

Josephus,  the  Jewish  historian,  says  that  Titus  had  de- 


THE  FLAVIANS. 


319 


cided  to  spare  the  Temple,  and  that  it  was  set  on  fire  by  a 
burning  brand  hurled  by  a  soldier. 

All   the  inhabitants  were  either  massacred  or  sold  into 


slavery.  Titus  reserved  seven  hundred  prisoners  to  appear 
in  his  triumph,  together  with  the  sacred  objects  from  the 
Temple:  the  golden  table,  the  seven-branched  candlestick, 
the  veil  of  the  Temple,  and  the  Book  of  the  Law. 


320  THE  ROMAN  PEOPLE. 

Jerusalem  remained  in  ruins.  A  legion  was  encamped 
there  and  colonies  established  in  the  neighboring  country. 
The  Jews'  contribution  to  the  Temple  was  kept  up,  but 
given  to  the  temple  of  Jupiter  Capitolinus. 

In  spit^  of  all  this,  deprived  of  their  capital,  their  chiefs, 
and  their  Temple,  the  Jews  remained  still  a  nation.  They 
preserved  their  religion  and  continued  to  regard  themselves 
as  the  chosen  people  of  God.  They  assembled  in  the 
synagogues  to  read  their  holy  books,  while  the  rabbis  pre- 
pared a  new  collection  of  the  sacred  rules  of  their  religion. 

The  Flavian  Emperors.— With  Vespasian  began  a  new 
imperial  dynasty,  the  Flavians,  of  whom  there  were  three. 
Flavins  Vespasianus  was  descended  from  an  Italian  family 
of  petty  landowners.  His  grandfather  had  been  centurion, 
his  father  collector  of  customs.  He  had  followed  the  career 
of  an  officer,  and  was  now  sixty  years  of  age. 

He  made  no  attempt  to  deny  his  origin.  On  the  contrary, 
he  frequently  ridiculed  those  courtiers  who  traced  his  descent 
from  the  god  Hercules,  and  kept  intact  the  peasant  house 
of  his  forefathers,  in  which  he  had  spent  his  childhood. 

He  lived  in  great  simplicity,  worked  late  at  night,  left  his 
door  always  open  to  any  that  might  come  to  speak  with 
him,  and  lent  a  ready  ear  to  advice.  He  refused  to  permit 
the  prosecution  of  persons  who  spoke  ill  of  him,  and  left  the 
sons  of  Vitellius  in  full  possession  of  their  property. 

He  restored  order,  reprimanding  rebels  and  restoring  dis- 
cipline in  the  army.  He  paid  great  attention  to  the  provinces, 
and  founded  colonies  of  citizens.    • 

The  greater  number  of  the  old  Roman  families  had  died 
out  and  there  was  a  scarcity  of  senators.  Vespasian  took  the 
census  and  added  many  new  names  to  the  list  of  senators. 
In  this  way  he  made  of  the  great  provincial  families  (chiefly 
of  Spain  and  Gaul)  a  new  nobility,  which  proved  to  be  more 
honest  and  less  ambitious  than  the  old  one. 

A  great  deal  of  money  was  needed  to  restore  Rome  to 
good    condition,    to   rebuild   the  Capitol,    reconstruct   the 


THE  FLAVIANS. 


321 


aqueducts,  and  build  the  Colosseum  (see  page  345),  not  to 
mention  the  armies  and  the  roads.  Vespasian  was  very 
economical,  so  much  so  that  his  enemies  held  him  up  to 
ridicule  as  a  miser. 

In  ten  years  he  had  set  the  empire  once  more  on  its  feet 
financially.     He  worked    to  the   day  of   his  death.      '*  An 


THE   FLAVIAN   AMPHITHEATRE    OR    COLOSSEUM. 

emperor,"  he  said,  "  must  die  standing."     He  died  in  the 
act  of  rising  from  his  chair  (79  a.d.). 

Titus  (79-81  A.D.). — His  son  Titus,  who  had  borne  the 
title  of  Caesar,  succeeded  him.  Titus  had  sworn  to  keep  his 
hands  free  from  blood;  he  refused  to  permit  prosecution  for 
high  treason,  and  pardoned  two  nobles  who  were  condemned 
for  conspiring  against  him.  He  adopted  a  deferential  atti- 
tude towards  the  senate,  gave  the  people  magnificent  games, 
and  announced  that  the  choice  of  shows  at  the  theatre 
belonged  not  to  the  emperor,  but  to  the  people.  He  made 
himself  beloved  by  all  his  subjects.  His  friends  nicknamed 
him  '*  the  delight  of  the  human  race." 

Having  let  one  day  pass  without  giving  anything  to  any  one, 
he  said  regretfully  in  the  evening,  *'  My  friends,  I  have  lost  a 
day." 


322 


THE  ROM^N  PEOPLE, 


He  died  after  a  brief  reign  of  two  years  and  two  months. ^ 

Domitian   (81-96   a.d.). — Titus   was    succeeded    by   his 

brother  Domitian.      He  was  tall,  handsome,   and  vigorous, 


ARCH    OF   TITUS, 

and   exceedingly  temperate  in  his   habits,   eating  but    one 
meal    a    day.      He   attended    to    his  duties  with    unfailing 

^  During  his  reign  Vesuvius,  which  had  been  quiet  for  at  least  two 
thousand  years,  broke  into  violent  eruption.  The  cities  of  Pompeii  and 
Herculanseum  were  buried  in  lava  (79  a.d.) 


THE  FLAVIAhlS.  323 

regularity.  He  reviewed  all  sentences  passed  by  the  courts, 
and  condemned  to  exile  all  persons  convicted  of  perjury. 
He  also  supervised  the  governors  of  the  provinces. 

He  followed  the  counsels  of  his  father,  and  the  regular 
administration  of  the  empire  was  continued. 

His  great  fault  was  his  vanity.  He  exacted  the  title  of 
Lord  and  even  God.  He  had  himself  elected  consul  seven- 
teen times.  He  was  displeased  with  any  eulogy  of  his 
brother  or  any  other  great  man.  He  celebrated  three 
triumphs  and  attended  the  sittings  of  the  senate  in  triumphal 
robes.      He  had  the  month  of  October  called  by  his  name. 

He  had  no  love  for  bodily  exercise  or  active  warfare,  and 
was  always  carried  in  a  litter,  even  during  a  campaign.  He 
nevertheless  conducted  a  number  of  wars  against  barbarian 
encroachment  in  Britain  (see  page  309),  on  the  Rhine,  and 
on  the  Danube.  In  the  latter  war  he  was  defeated,  and 
secured  peace  only  by  promising  a  yearly  present  to  the  king 
of  the  Dacians;  his  enemies  called  this  buying  peace  by  the 
payment  of  tribute. 

Domitian  was  always  cold  and  egotistical.  He  lived 
without  friends  alone  in  his  palace,  amusing  himself,  it  is 
said,  by  killing  flies  with  a  bodkin.  His  guests  received  an 
ungracious  reception. 

There  is  a  story  that  he  amused  himself  by  frightening  his 
quests  one  day.  He  received  them  in  a  hall  draped  with  black, 
lighted  with  funeral  lamps,  and  furnished  with  couches  such  as 
the  dead  were  laid  on,  each  with  a  funeral  inscription  bearing 
the  name  of  a  guest.  At  each  man's  feet  sat  a  slave  represent- 
ing the  genius  of  the  dead  as  he  appeared  on  tombs.  The  sup- 
per consisted  of  dishes  served  at  funeral  repasts. 

When  the  dinner  was  over,  unfamiliar  slaves  accompanied 
each  guest  to  his  home,  there  to  be  met  with  an  announcement 
that  a  messenger  had  come  from  the  emperor.  Feeling  sure 
that  he  would  find  a  sentence  of  death,  he  was  surprised  to  see 
the  beautiful  slave  who  had  played  the  part  of  the  genius  of 
death,  whom  the  emperor  had  sent  as  a  gift,  together  with  the 
funeral  paraphernalia  which  had  figured  at  the  banquet. 

In  the  last  years  of  his  reign  Domitian's  natural  cruelty 
was   intensified  by  his  constant  fears.     There  was  mutual 


324  THE  ROMAN  PEOPLE. 

hatred  between  him  and  the  senators,  a  number  of  whom 
attempted  to  kill  him.  Condemnations  for  high  treason 
began  again.  One  senator  was  condemned  for  celebrating 
the  anniversary  of  the  birth  of  his  uncle,  the  emperor  Otho; 
another  for  having  a  map  of  the  world  in  his  room;  another 
because  the  public  crier  had  by  mistake  proclaimed  him 
emperor.  Lucullus,  the  general  of  the  army  in  Britain,  was 
executed  for  having  permitted  a  new  style  of  spear  to  be 
called  by  his  name;  a  rhetorician,  for  having  made  a  speech 
against  tyrants.  Domitian  encouraged  denunciation,  even 
from  slaves.  No  one  dared  speak,  even  in  his  own  house, 
for  fear  that  some  word  might  be  picked  up  by  a  slave  and 
interpreted  as  an  allusion  to  the  emperor. 

Domitian  needed  money  for  his  soldiers,  having  increased 
the  wages  of  the  legionaries  from  two  hundred  and  twenty- 
five  to  three  hundred  denarii  a  year  (from  forty-five  to  sixty 
dollars).  He  therefore  condemned  rich  men  in  order  to 
get  their  property,  and  exacted  a  share  of  each  inheri- 
tance. 

He  became  an  object  of  loathing  to  his  subjects,  who 
nicknamed  him  "the  bald-headed  Nero."  The  Chaldaean 
soothsayers  having  predicted  the  near  approach  of  his  death, 
he  exiled  them  all  and  had  a  number  executed.  The 
philosophers  censured  his  conduct,  and  suffered  execution 
and  exile  for  their  rashness. 

Domitian  rarely  appeared  in  public.  He  had  the  porti- 
coes through  which  he  passed  faced  with  polished  stone  to 
serve  as  mirrors,  that  he  might  observe  what  went  on  behind 
him.  When  he  went  on  the  water  he  sat  alone  in  one  boat 
and  was  towed  by  another,  to  keep  the  rowers  at  a  safe  dis- 
tance from  him.  When  a  suspected  person  was  brought 
before  him  he  had  him  chained,  and  held  the  end  of  the 
chain  in  his  hand. 

In  spite  of  all  this  precaution  he  was  assassinated.  His 
wife's  steward  came  to  him  to  tell  him  of  a  pretended  con- 
spiracy, handed  him  a  note,  and  struck  him  as  he  read  it. 


THE  FLAyiAhlS.  32S 

His  servants  hastened  to  the  spot  and  killed  the  assassin 
(96  A.D.  ). 

SOURCES. 

Eutropius Bk.  vii,  §§  16-22. 

Josephus Jewish  Wars,  Bks.  II-VII. 

Plutarch Galba,  Otho. 

Suetonius Galba,  Otho,  Vttellius,  Vespasian,  Titus,  Datni- 

tian. 
Tacitus. .,,..,.   History,  Agricola. 

PARALLEL   READING. 

Duruy cc.  Ixxvi-Ixxviii. 

Merivale cc.  Ivi-lx. 

Botsford c.  x,  pp.  237-242. 

Bury cc.  xix-xxii. 

Morey c.  xxv. 

Myers c.  xvi,  pp.  347-354. 

Freeman Historical  Essays  (2d  Ser.),  The  Flavian  Em- 
perors. 

Mau,  A Pompeii:  its  Life  and  Art, 

Boissier,  G.  . . .   Rome  and  Pompeii. 


CHAPTER   XXII. 
THE    ANTONINES. 

96-180    A.D. 

Nerva  (96-98  a.d.). — The  murderers  of  Domitian  had 
already  chosen  his  successor,  an  old  and  decrepit  senator 
named  Nerva.  The  senate  elected  him  emperor  and  revenged 
itself  on  Domitian  by  decreeing  that  his  memory  should  be 
abolished.  Not  only  was  the  late  emperor  not  declared  a 
god,  but  orders  were  given  to  tear  down  his  statues  and  to 
strike  out  his  name  from  all  inscriptions.  Nerva  recalled 
the  exiles,  forbade  prosecution  for  high  treason,  and  restored 
the  powers  of  the  senate. 

The  praetorians,  who  were  on  bad  terms  with  the  senate, 
came  in  arms  to  the  palace  to  demand  the  punishment  of 
the  slayers  of  Domitian,  and  massacred  them.  Nerva  had 
not  the  strength  to  resist  the  praetorians,  and  chose  as  his 
colleague  a  general  by  the  name  of  Trajan.  Soon  after  this 
Nerva  died. 

Trajan  and  his  Conquests  (98-117  a.d.). — His  succes- 
sor, Trajan,  was  the  first  emperor  who  was  not  a  native  of 
Italy.  He  was  born  in  Italica,  a  Roman  colony  in  Spain 
(near  Seville),  and  had  already  made  his  reputation  as  a 
general. 

He  treated  the  senate  with  deference,  consulted  it  on 
affairs  of  state,  and  allowed  it  to  decide  cases  against  the 
governors.  He  forbade  denunciation  of  a  master  to  be 
received  from  his  slave,  condemnation  of  an  absent  citizen, 
or  prosecution  for  Use  viajesie.      He  conducted  himself  not 

326 


THE  ANTONINES.  32? 

as  a  master,  but  as  a  magistrate.  He  sat  with  the  other 
senators,  and,  on  accepting  the  consulate,  stood  while  the 
other  consul  sat  and  administered  his  oath.  He  allowed 
eulogies  to  be  written  on  citizens  condemned  by  the 
emperors,  and  images  of  Brutus  and  Cassius  to  be  set  up. 
It  was  at  this  time  the  fashion  to  extol  the  partisans  of  the 
old  republic,  to  speak  with  scorn  of  the  wicked  emperors, 
and  to  say  that  Rome  was  once  more  free.  In  spite  of  all 
this  the  emperor  remained  the  real  head  of  the  state. 

Trajan  was  before  all  a  general,  and  was  absorbed  in 
conquest. 

A  new  barbarian  kingdom  had  been  established  on  the  left 
bank  of  the  Danube,  between  the  river  and  the  Carpathian 
Mountains  (the  modern  Transylvania).  Decebalus,  ^  king 
of  the  Dacians,  had  organized  an  army  on  the  Roman  model, 
employing  Roman  engineers  and  soldiers,  and  had  invaded 
the  Roman  province  of  Moesia.  Domitian  had  paid  him  a 
sum  of  money  annually. 

Trajan  made  up  his  mind  to  destroy  this  dangerous 
neighbor.  He  spent  the  winter  with  the  army  of  the  Danube 
preparing  for  war  (loi  a.d. ),  and  constructing  a  road  along 
the  right  bank  of  the  river.  In  the  spring  he  crossed  the 
Danube  into  the  mountains  and  took  the  Dacian  fortresses 
one  by  one,  returning  with  the  Romans  who  had  been 
captured  and  the  standards  which  the  barbarians  had  taken 
from  the  Roman  soldiers.  Decebalus  sued  for  peace, 
promising  to  surrender  his  engines,  workmen,  and  Roman 
deserters  (102  a.d.).  Trajan  left  a  Roman  garrison  in  the 
capital  city,  Sarmizegethusa,  and  built  across  the  Danube  a 
stone  bridge  with  seventeen  piers,  to  permit  the  Romans  to 
enter  the  country  at  will. 

The  king  of  the  Dacians  did  not  fulfil  his  promise;  he 
surrendered  neither  his  arms  nor  the  Reman  deserters. 
Trajan    accordingly    returned    and    declared    war  on    him, 

P  Decebalus  was  a  royal  title,  like  Pharaoh  or  Kaiser.] 


328 


THE  ROMAN  PEOPLE, 


invaded  his  country  and  entered  his  capital.  He  refused  to 
make  peace,  and  insisted  on  the  surrender  of  Decebalus. 
The  Dacian  king,  in  despair,  killed  himself  (io6  a.d.). 


IHK    DECEBALUS    SUBMITTING. 

{^Froni  Trajan's  Column.) 

Trajan  kept  the  country  and  made  of  it  the  new  province 
of  Dacia.  He  built  strongholds  for  its  defence,  drove  out 
the  Dacian  warriors,  and  established  several  Roman  colonies. 
These  colonies  operated  the  mines  in  the  mountains,  culti- 
vated the  land,  and  built  cities.  Dacia  became  a  Roman 
country,  and  Latin  her  chief  language;  this  was  the  founda- 
tion of  the  Roumanian  people,  which  to-day  speaks  a  tongue 
derived  from  the  Latin. 

The  strongest  army  of  the  first  century  was  that  of  the 
Rhine.  Trajan  transferred  this  honor  to  the  army  of  the 
Danube,  to  which  he  gave  ten  legions  shared  among  five 
governors. 

The  country  south  of  the  Danube,  being  no  longer 
exposed  to  barbarian  ravages,  increased  in  population  and 
wealth. 

In  memory  of  his  conquest  Trajan   had   the   Column   of 


THE  ANTONINES. 


329 


Trajan  erected  in  Rome,  with  bas-reliefs  in  marble  repre- 
senting scenes  of  the  war. 

Rome  had  now  but  one  enemy  left,  the  king  of  the 
Parthians.  For  a  whole  century  she  had  made  war  on  him 
at  various  times,  usually  to  determine  who  should  chocs  ' 
the  king  of  Armenia.     Trajan  organized  his  army  at  Antioch, 


BUKNING    A    TOWN. 

{trom  Trajan'' s  Column.) 


then  sent  for  the  king  of  Armenia,  ordered  him  to  lay  down 
his  crown,  and  delivered  him  to  the  soldiers  to  be  killed. 
He  then  declared  Armenia  a  Roman  province,  and  advanced 
into  the  kingdom  of  the  Parthians.  He  had  his  boats  dis- 
mantled and  carried  across  to  the  Euphrates  on  wagons. 
Entering  Babylon,  he  sacrificed  to  the  spirit  of  Alexander, 
then  carried  his  boats  overland  from  the  Euphrates  to  the 
Tigris,  and  took  the  great  Parthian  cities,  Seleucia  and 
Ctesiphon.  In  the  latter  city  he  took  possession  of  the 
king'-s  golden  throne  and  sailed  with  it  down  to  the  ocean. 
It  was  presumably  his  intention  to  advance  as  far  as 
Alexander,  but  the  Parthian  cities  rose  against  him,  his 
health  failed,  and  he  died  on  the  march,  in   117  a.d.      He 


330  THE  ROMAhl  PEOPLE. 

had  made  of  the  conquered  territory  three  new  provinces : 
Armenia,  Mesopotamia,  and  Assyria. 

Hadrian  (i  17-138  a.d.). — Trajan  had  not  had  time 
formally  to  designate  his  successor,  but  he  had  already 
chosen  a  member  of  his  own  family.  This  was  Hadrian,  a 
tall,  handsome  man,  possessing  a  good  mind  and  a  sweet 
nature.  Trajan  had  adopted  him  and  married  him  to  his 
grandniece. 

When  Hadrian  was  proclaimed  emperor  he  swore  never 

to  put  a  senator  to  death,  and  to  allow  the  senate  to  retain 

the  powers  granted   by  Trajan.      When   in  Rome  he  took 

part  in  the  sittings  of  the  senate  and  consulted  it  on  affairs 

of  state.     When  the  senate  made  him  a  visit  he  received  the 

members  standing. 

Seeing  one  of  his  slaves  walking  one  day  between  two  sena- 
tors, Hadrian  sent  some  one  to  strike  the  imperial  slave,  that 
he  might  remember  his  inferior  rank. 

He  attended  conscientiously  to    business,   administering 

justice  and  hearing  all  complaints  in  person.     He  supervised 

the  provincial  governors,  and  even  condemned  some  of  them 

to  death. 

'•  I  wish  to  govern  the  republic,"  he  said,  "  not  as  my  prop- 
erty, but  as  that  of  the  people."  A  woman  stopped  him  in  the 
street  one  day  with  a  plea  for  justice.  Hadrian  told  her  that  he 
had  not  time  to  hear  her.  "  Then  why  are  you  emperor?  "  was 
the  woman's  answer.     And  Hadrian  listened  to  her  complaint. 

He  lived  like  a  private  citizen,  without  luxury,  eating 
simple  meals,  hunting  with  his  friends,  and  visiting  them 
when  they  were  ill.  He  had  no  guards  to  escort  him  in 
Rome,  and  returned  from  the  senate  in  a  litter  that  he  might 
not  attract  attention.  He  was  not  a  seeker  after  honors. 
He  never  took  the  title  of  consul,  refused  for  a  long  time 
that  of  Father  of  his  Country,  and  was  only  once  proclaimed 
imperator  by  the  soldiers. 

Hadrian  had  spent  the  greater  part  of  his  life  in  Greek 
countries;  he  spoke  Greek  and  had  learned  from  the  Greeks 
painting   and    sculpture,    the   art    of   writing   poetry,    also 


THE  ANTONINES,  331 

geometry,   music,    medicine,    and    astrology.      His    enemies 
called  him  "  the  little  Greek." 

His  first  act  was  to  abandon  Trajan  s  eastern  conquests, 
the  provinces  about  the  Euphrates,  feeling,  like  Augustus, 
that  the  empire  was  large  enough  already.  He  avoided  war, 
preferring  to  maintain  peace  with  the  barbarians  by  making 
presents  to  their  chiefs.  His  plan  was  successful,  and 
during  his  entire  reign  the  frontier  was  never  attacked. 

Although  so  careful  to  avoid  war,  he  took  equal  pains  to 
have  good  armies.  He  visited  all  the  frontier  garrisons,  and 
made  his  soldiers  preserve  the  customs  of  the  old  Roman 
armies.  He  did  away  with  the  officers'  country-seats, 
banquet-halls,  grottoes,  and  canopies.  He  drove  out  the 
actors  and  jugglers. 

He  refused  furloughs  to  the  soldiers  in  order  that  the 
corps  might  be  always  complete.  Pic  ordered  at  least  three 
military  marches  to  be  made  each  month.  He  established 
a  set  of  rules  for  the  camp  and  for  the  baggage,  and  had 
new  engines  of  war  made  that  were  lighter  and  more  easily 
manoeuvred. 

When  in  camp  he  lived  like  a  common  soldier,  eating 
bacon  and  cheese  and  drinking  thin" wine.  He  practised 
throwing  the  javelin,  and  led  the  military  marches  of 
eighteen  or  nineteen  miles  on  foot,  bareheaded  and  fully 
armed;  he  would  not  allow  either  a  litter  or  a  carriage  to  be 
brought  for  him.  He  busied  himself  among  his  soldiers, 
visiting  the  sick  and  giving  promotions  for  bravery  or  long 
service,  which  he  ranked  above  wealth  and  youth.  His  men 
were  devoted  to  him,  and  throughout  his  reign  of  twenty- 
one  years  there  was  never  an  outbreak  among  the  soldiers. 

Hadrian's  Journeys. — Hadrian  cared  little  for  Rome, 
and  spent  his  time  travelling  about  his  empire. 

He  was  proclaimed  emperor  in  Syria,  and  passed  through 
the  Danube  provinces  on  his  way  back  to  Rome.  He  spent 
a  year  in  these  provinces  organizing  the  government. 

He  visited  the  south  of  Italy,  then  Rhaetia  and  Noricum 


332 


THE  ROMAN  PEOPLE. 


THE  yINTONINES,  333 

in  the  north,  proceeding  to  Gaul  and  Britain.  The  bar- 
barians of  the  Scotch  mountains  were  ravaging  the  region 
just  beyond  the  frontier.  Hadrian's  Wall  was  built  to  keep 
them  back.  This  wall  was  more  than  sixty  miles  long  and 
extended  across  Britain  from  Solway  Frith  to  the  Tyne.  In 
front  of  it  was  a  ditch  forty  feet  wide  and  fifteen  feet  deep. 
Behind  it  rose  a  wall  of  masonry  seven  feet  thick  and  fifteen 
or  more  feet  high,  guarded  in  front  by  three  hundred  towers 
which  jutted  out  over  the  wall,  and  behind  by  eighty  guard- 
posts.  Along  the  full  length  of  the  wall  was  constructed  a 
military  road  sixty-five  feet  wide,  defended  by  seventeen  forts 
averaging  four  miles  apart,  each  placed  within  reach  of 
water.  Finally,  a  second  ditch  between  two  lines  of  earth- 
works protected  the  wall  on  the  south.  This  tremendous 
work  was  accomplished  by  three  legions  and  their  auxiliaries, 
each  cohort  making  a  section  of  the  wall. 

Hadrian  visited  Spain  and  was  present  at  the  assembly  of 
deputies  from  the  Spanish  cities,  which  met  at  Tarragona  to 
celebrate  the  anniversaries  of  the  founding  of  Rome  and  the 
birth  of  Augustus. 

Passing  on  to  Africa,  he  visited  the  Roman  camps  on  the 
borders  of  the  desert.  At  Lambesis  an  inscription  has  been 
found  which  reproduces  an  order  of  the  day  from  Hadrian 
to  his  soldiers,  congratulating  them  on  the  manner  in  which 
they  did  their  work,  carried  their  loads,  and  executed 
manoeuvres.  Hadrian  extended  the  road  and  the  forts  into 
the  mountains  on  the  edge  of  the  desert. 

He  passed  through  all  the  African  provinces  and  entered 
Syria.  Here  he  had  an  interview  with  the  king  of  the 
Parthians;  he  promised  to  restore  the  king's  daughter,  who 
had  been  captured  by  the  Romans,  but  refused  to  give  back 
the  golden  throne  that  Trajan  had  carried  off. 

He  next  went  through  the  provinces  bordering  on  the 
Black  Sea.  He  visited  the  mountain  from  which  the  Ten 
Thousand  had  had  their  first  view  of  the  sea,  and  a  statue 
of  him  was  erected  there,  with  a  hand  pointing  towards  the 


334  THE  ROMAN  PEOPLE. 

sea.  He  had  a  temple  and  a  harbor  constructed  at 
Trebizond.  He  hunted  wild  beasts  in  the  Bithynian  Moun- 
tains, and  killed  an  enormous  bear.  The  city  of  Hadrian- 
otherge  (Hadrian's  hunts)  was  founded  in  memory  of  this. 

Proceeding  into  Europe,  he  visited  Thrace, ^  Macedonia, 
Epirus,  Thessaly,  and  Greece,  and  returned  to  Rome  by 
water,  stopping  at  Sicily  to  see  the  sunrise  from  the  top  of 
Mount  ^tna. 

Later  he  made  a  second  trip  to  the  East.  This  time  he 
made  a  longer  stay  in  the  Greek  countries,  where  he  was 
happiest.  In  every  city  he  left  traces  of  his  passage:  in 
Corinth  the  baths  and  an  aqueduct,  in  Mantinea  a  temple 
to  Neptune,  and  in  Argos  a  golden  peacock  with  precious 
stones  to  form  the  eyes  in  his  tail-feathers.  Athens  was  his 
favorite  city;  during  his  long  sojourn  there  he  wore  the 
Greek  costume,  accepted  the  title  of  archon  (magistrate), 
presided  at  the  games,  was  initiated  into  the  Eleusinian 
mysteries,  and  conversed  with  philosophers  and  artists.  He 
built  a  complete  new  city  beside  the  ancient  one,  with  a 
gymnasium,  a  circus,  and  a  library.  Between  the  two  he 
erected  a  triumphal  arch  bearing  two  inscriptions;  on  the 
side  towards  Athens  was  written,  **  This  is  the  city  of 
Theseus,"  and  on  the  side  towards  the  new  city,  "  This  is 
the  city  of  Hadrian." 

He  extended  his  visit  to  the  Greek  cities  of  Asia,  and 
built  at  Smyrna  a  temple  and  the  most  beautiful  gymnasium 
in  Asia.  Smyrna  thanked  him  by  giving  him  the  titles  of 
"savior"  and  "founder,"  and  establishing  the  Hadrianic 
games.  He  visited  the  places  of  interest  in  the  country, 
the  tomb  of  Tantalus  and  the  bas-relief  of  Sesostris.  At 
Troy  he  restored  the  tomb  of  Ajax  and  composed  Greek 
verses  in  honor  of  the  city. 

He  continued  his  journey  into  Syria  and  Judaea.  At 
Antioch   he  consulted  the  oracle  at   Daphne's  spring,  and 

^  The  largest  city  in  this  country  is  still  Adrianople  {Hadrianopolis. 
the  city  of  Hadrian). 


THE  ANTONINES.  335 

then  had  the  place  closed.  He  went  as  far  as  Baalbec  and 
Palmyra,  the  desert  cities  which  were  supported  by  passing 
caravans.  He  visited  the  Dead  Sea  and  the  strongholds  of 
the  new  province  of  Arabia. 

Arrived  at  Alexandria,  in  Egypt,  he  visited  the  library  and 
the  museum  and  argued  with  the  scholars,  with  whom  he 
could  not  agree.  Passing  up  the  Nile,  he  met  with  a  great 
grief  in  the  death  of  Antinous,  a  young  Asiatic  and  his 
favorite  slave,  who  was  drowned  in  the  river.  Hadrian  had 
him  worshipped  as  a  god,  built  in  his  honor  the  city  of 
Antinopolis  near  the  spot  where  he  had  perished,  and  made 
a  road  from  this  city  to  the  Red  Sea. 

News  of  a  serious  nature  brought  him  back  to  Judaea. 
While  passing  through  the  province  he  had  ordered  a  colony 
of  veterans  to  be  established  on  the  site  of  the  ruined  city  of 
Jerusalem;  this  was  the  colony  of  M\\2i  Capitolina.  The 
Jews  rose  in  rebellion,  under  command  of  a  priest  and  a 
bandit  chief  known  as  Bar  Cocheba  (son  of  the  star),  who 
claimed  to  be  sent  by  God  to  deliver  the  people  of  Israel. 
The  rebels  gained  Jerusalem  and  the  mastery  of  Judaea,  and 
it  was  three  years  before  the  governor  of  Syria  could  put  them 
down.  One  by  one  he  took  their  strongholds  and  massacred 
all  the  men.  He  is  said  to  have  taken  fifty  fortresses  and 
nine  hundred  and  eighty-five  towns  (132-134  a.d.),  in  which 
campaign  five  hundred  and  eighty  thousand  Jews  perished. 

Hadrian  took  away  the  name  of  Judaea  from  the  province 
(calling  it  Palestinian  Syria)  and  established  two  legions 
there,  although  it  was  not  a  frontier  province.  The  country 
was  left  practically  a  desert.  All  Jews  were  forbidden, 
under  penalty  of  death,  to  come  within  the  limits  of 
Jerusalem;  once  a  year  they  were  allowed  to  come  and  weep 
at  the  foot  of  the  city  walL  The  Jews  scattered  through  the 
empire  held  to  their  religion, '  their  synagogues  and  their 
councils  of  elders.  They  would  have  nothing  in  common 
with  infidels,  gradually  ceased  the  use  of  Greek,  and  had 
their  books  written  only  in  Hebrew. 


336 


THE  ROM/tN  PEOPLE, 


Hadrian  returned  to  Rome  and  spent  his  last  years  there 
(134-138  A.D.).  He  built  a  large  villa  at  Tibur  (Tivoli) 
and  reproduced  there  in  miniature  the  monuments  and  land- 
scapes he  had  most  admired  in  his  travels :  an  academy,  a 
lyceum,  a  theatre,  and  even  a  little  valley  of  Tempe  with 
its  rivers  and  mountains.  The  ruins  of  this  villa  have  dis- 
closed bas-reliefs,  statues,  and  mosaics. 

Antoninus  (i 38-1 61  a.d.)  and  Marcus  Aurelius  (161- 
180  A.D.). — Hadrian  had  adopted  Antoninus,  a  rich  senator 


ANTONINUS.      (NAPLES.) 

from  the  Roman  city  of  Nemausus  (Nimes)  in  Gaul,  who 
was  now  recognized  as  emperor.  Antoninus  was  already 
fifty-two  years  old,  and  simple  and  economical  in  his  habits. 


THE  ANTONINES.  337 

He  refused  the  money  usually  offered  to  the  emperors,  and 
paid  the  soldiers'  donativum  out  of  hie  own  private  fortune. 
He  lived  plainly,  and  practised  such  strict  economy  that  at 
the  end  of  twenty  years  he  left  more  than  a  hundred  million 
dollars  in  the  treasury. 

Being  of  a  mild  and  rather  timid  nature,  he  lived  quietly 
at  Rome.  He  treated  the  senate  with  respect  and  attended 
its  meetings  regularly.  He  voted  generally  for  the  lightest 
penalties,  and  readily  granted  pardon  to  the  condemned. 
A  conspiracy  against  liim  was  discovered,  but  he  would  not 
allow  the  senate  to  search  for  the  guilty  persons. 

He  is  supposed  to  have  said  on  this  occasion  :  "  What  good 
will  it  do  me  to  know  which  of  my  subjects  hate  me  }  " — The 
following  speech  is  also  credited  to  him  :  "  I  wish  to  treat  the 
senate  as  I  should  wish  to  be  treated  if  I  were  a  senator." — His 
adopted  son,  Marcus  Aurelius,  was  reproached  by  his  friends 
for  weeping  at  the  emperor's  deathbed.  "  Let  him  be  a  man," 
said  Antoninus  :  "  philosophy  and  the  empire  should  not  be 
allowed  to  wither  the  heart." 

Antoninus  made  no  wars  during  his  entire  reign. 

"  It  is  better,"  he  said,  "  to  save  one  citizen  than  to  kill  a 
thousand  enemies." 

Before  becoming  emperor  he  had  adopted  a  young  man 
named  Marcus  Aurelius,  who  succeeded  him  with  his 
son-in-law,  Lucius  Verus,  as  his  colleague  (i6i  a.d.). 

Marcus  Aurelius,  from  his  twelfth  year,  wore  the  garb  of 
a  philosopher  and  slept  on  the  ground ;"  his  mother  with  great 
difficulty  persuaded  him  to  accept  a  bed  of  sheep-skins. 
When,  at  the  age  of  eighteen,  he  was  adopted  by  Antoninus, 
he  continued  the  study  of  rhetoric;  later  he  became  absorbed 
in  the  doctrines  of  Stoicism  (see  page  358),  and  never  ceased 
to  practise  it  even  after  he  became  emperor.  He  submitted 
his  conscience  to  a  rigid  examination  every  day,  asking  him- 
self if  he  had  fulfilled  all  his  duties. 

He  wrote  in  his  Meditations :  "  We  must  not  be  angry  with 
evil-doers,  but  rather  bear  with  them  in  patience.     Correct 


338 


THE  ROMAN  PEOPLE, 


them,   if  possible;    otherwise,   remember  that  kindness  has 
been  given  us  to  use  towards  them." 

He  lived  with  perpetual  austerity,  eating  little,  working 
hard,  and  having  no  distraction  other  than  the  writing  of 
his    thoughts.     Although    his    health   was    feeble,    he    con- 


MAKCUS    AUKELIUS. 


scientiously  fulfilled  all  his  imperial  duties.  He  attended 
the  sittings  of  the  senate  and  remained  to  the  end.  He 
often  sat  in  judgment  and  gave  his  attention  to  the  reforming 
of  the  laws.  He  disliked  the  idea  of  war,  but  nevertheless 
devoted  years  to  defending  the  empire  against  her  enemies. 
"A  spider,"  he  wrote,   "is  proud  if  he  catches  a  fly. 


THE  ^NTONINES. 


339 


Men  boast,  one  of  taking  a  hare,  another  a  boar  or  a  bear, 
still  another  the  Sarmatians.  Are  not  they  all  brigands  in 
the  eyes  of  the  wise  ? ' ' 

The  Parthians  attacked  Syria.     Verus  went  to  fight  them. 


AKTHIANS    RENDERING    HOMAGE   TO    MARCUS   AURBLIUS. 


and    conquered    a    small    section    of    Mesopotamia.      The 
Moors  attacked  the  Spanish  coasts  and  were  repulsed. 

Rome's  most  dangerous  enemies  were  the  barbarians  of 
the  Danube  region.  Some  of  the  German  tribes  crossed  the 
river  and  asked  for  lands  in  the  Roman  provinces.  They 
were  driven  back,  but  all  at  once  the  whole  nation  entered 
the  empire,  some  Greece,  some  Aquileia,  some  Italy,  ravag- 


340  •  THE  ROMAN  PEOPLE. 

ing,  plundering,  and  carrying  off  the  inhabitants.  A 
pestilence  had  recently  destroyed  a  portion  of  the  Roman 
army,  a  poor  harvest  had  ruined  the  country,  and  there  were 
no  taxes  coming  in.  Marcus  Aurelius  sold  the  palace  jewels 
to  raise  money,  and  with  great  difficulty  collected  an  army 
in  Italy,  enrolling  the  military  police,  slaves  whom  he  freed 
for  this  service,  and  even  gladiators.  Verus  died,  and 
Marcus  Aurelius  himself  led  the  army  which  drove  out  the 
invaders  (167  a.d.). 

This  war  was  so  terrible  that  it  has  been  compared  to  the 
war  against  Hannibal.  Marcus  Aurelius  fought  for  several 
years  on  the  Danube,  chiefly  against  the  Marcomanni  (in 
Bohemia)  and  the  Quadi  (in  Moravia).  The  barbarians 
sued  for  peace  at  last;  they  restored  the  Roman  captives, 
promised  to  furnish  auxiliaries  to  the  emperor,  and  swore 
never  again  to  approach  the  Danube  (176  a.d.). 

Marcus  Aurelius  returned  to  the  Danube  and  resumed  the 
war  with  the  intention  of  destroying  the  barbarians.  It  was 
his  wish  to  make  two  Roman  provinces  of  their  territory, 
but  he  died  at  Vindobona  (Vienna)  completely  worn  out, 
at  the  age  of  sixty  (180  a.d.). 

Government  of  the  Antonines. — The  time  of  Nerva, 
Trajan,  Hadrian,  Antoninus,  and  Marcus  Aurelius  is  called 
the  period  of  the  Antonines.  It  was  the  happiest  period  in 
the  history  of  the  empire. 

None  of  these  emperors  had  sons,  so  that  the  empire  was 
not  handed  down  as  a  heritage.  The  emperor  chose  an 
adopted  son  and  trained  him  for  his  successor,  so  that  in 
time  he  quietly  and  intelligently  assumed  the  reins  of 
government. 

The  emperor  was  no  longer  dependent  on  the  caprice  of 
the  praetorians,  neither  did  he  fear  the  nobles  of  the  senate. 
He  bore  himself  as  the  first  magistrate  of  the  republic,  living 
in  a  simplicity  that  had  no  resemblance  to  a  court  life.  His 
power  was  absolute,  but  he  used  it  modestly  and  only  for 
the  good  of  the  state. 


THE  ANTON  IN ES.  341 

The  senate  remained  tlie  most  honored  body  in  the 
government,  and  the  families  of  its  members  occupied  the 
most  exalted  position  in  the  empire  The  majority  now 
were  not  descendants  of  the  ancient  Roman  nobles,  but  of 
Roman  colonists  and  the  great  landowners  of  the  provinces. 
They  were  obedient  to  the  emperor^  and  no  longer 
endeavored  to  restore  the  senatorial  government. 

Hadrian  organized,  as  an  aid  to  the  emperor  in  the 
government,  the  council,  composed  of  senators  and  juris- 
consults. Its  duties  were  to  prepare  the  edicts  and  investi- 
gate affairs  of  state. 

The  first  emperors  had  annoyed  the  nobles  by  taking  their 
freedmen  for  their  secretaries.  The  Antonines,  while  they 
could  not  very  well  drop  this  custom,  chose  knights,  mem- 
bers of  the  second  grade  of  nobility,  to  supervise  the  work 
of  administration.  There  was  one  overseer  at  the  head 
of  each  of  the  four  branches  of  the  service:  dispatches, 
accounts,  petitions,  and  investigations. 

The  system  inaugurated  by  Augustus  still  prevailed  in  the 
provinces:  governors  chosen  from  the  senatorial  nobility, 
procurators  from  the  equestrian  nobility  of  the  second  grade. 
The  emperor  gave  them  a  salary  and  forbade  them  to  take 
anything  from  the  inhabitants.  He  allowed  the  inhabitants 
to  complain  against  the  governors,  and  punished  the  latter 
severely  if  he  found  them  guilty  of  robbery  or  violence.  If 
he  was  satisfied  with  a  governor,  he  left  him  in  his  province 
for  several  years.  The  provinces  were  therefore  no  longer 
a  source  of  revenue  to  the  Roman  nobles,  but  kept  their 
revenues  and  made  use  of  them  at  home.  The  barbarian 
countries,  Gaul,  Spain,  Africa,  and  Illyria,  grew,  as  Italy  had 
earlier,  into  rich  and  populous  countries,  with  their  share  of 
houses,  cities,  and  public  buildings. 

Rome  sent  out  very  few  officials  to  her  provinces.  In  all 
the  countries  which  composed  modern   France  there  were 

1  There  was  an  abortive  conspiracy  of  senators  against  Trajan  and 
another  against  Hadrian. 


342  THE  ROMAhl  PEOPLE. 

only  a  hundred,  and  not  more  than  twelve  hundred  soldiers. 
The  emperor  left  his  subjects  to  administer  their  own  affairs, 
only  asking  them  not  to  make  war  among  themselves,  to  pay 
their  taxes,  which  were  in  most  cases  sufficiently  moderate, 
and  fixed  since  the  conquest,  and  to  appear  before  the 
governor  when  he  made  his  yearly  tour  to  decide  matters  of 
importance. 

All  other  matters  were  decided  by  the  petty  governments 
which  had  been  in  operation  before  the  conquest.  There 
were  a  number  of  these  in  each  province,  ordinarily  one  for 
each  town  of  any  importance.  The  surrounding  country 
formed  the  territory  of  the  town,  and  the  whole  what  was 
technically  known  to  the  Romans  as  a  city  {ctvitas).  Each 
city  was  organized  on  the  model  of  the  Roman  city,  with  its 
senate,  magistrates,  and  assembly  of  the  people.  The 
magistrates,  who  were  elected  for  one  year,  were  divided  in 
colleges  of  two  members  each,  one  for  justice  and  govern- 
ment (like  the  Roman  consuls),  the  other  for  police  and 
markets  (like  the  aediles).  The  senate,  which  was  called  the 
curiuy  was  made  up  of  the  landed  proprietors.  In  the  city, 
as  at  Rome,  the  assembly  was  only  a  form,  and  the  real 
power  was  the  curia,  that  is  to  say,  the  wealthy  inhabitants. 
The  capital  of  the  little  state  was  a  miniature  Rome,  with 
its  temples,  council-chamber,  theatres,  baths,  fountains, 
aqueducts,  and  roads.  The  life  of  Rome  was  also  repro- 
duced on  a  small  scale,  the  celebration  of  ceremonies,  and 
the  distribution  of  gram  and  money. 

These  cities  paid  all  their  own  expenses  and  received 
nothing  from  Rome  even  towards  the  support  of  the  admin- 
istration, courts,  or  militia.  The  inhabitants  themselves 
furnished  what  was  needed  for  their  government,  construc- 
tion of  buildings,  and  festivals.  In  most  cases  the  rich 
citizens  subscribed  the  money,  and  in  return  were  made 
officials  by  the  city,  members  of  the  curia,  or  priests  in  the 
temples;  their  names,  together  with  a  eulogy,  were  inscribed 
on  the  public  buildings.     Trajan  and  Hadrian  granted  the 


THE  yiNTONINES.  343 

cities  permission  to  receive  gifts  and  legacies,  and  many 
wealthy  citizens  bequeathed  to  them  large  sums  of  money. 
The  younger  Pliny  spent  more  than  eleven  million  sesterces 
(550,000  dollars)  for  Comum,  his  native  town;  he  built  a 
library,  a  school,  and  a  temple  of  Ceres  with  galleries  for 
the  merchants  during  the  fairs.  An  inhabitant  of  Massilia 
gave  ten  million  sesterces  (500,000  dollars)  to  rebuild  the 
city  wall. 

The  Roman  empire  from  Augustus  to  Diocletian  (300  a.d.) 
has  been  called  simply  an  agglomeration  of  these  separate 
municipalities,  each  a  single,  separate  grain  in  a  vast  heap. 
They  had  no  organic  connection  with  each  other,  the  sole 
source  of  unity  being  allegiance  to  the  emperor.  The 
provinces  were  simply  divisions  for  imperial  convenience. 
But  two  towns  in  the  same  province,  as  Athens  and  Corinth, 
were  no  more  united  governmental ly  than  were  Athens  and 
Lugdunum  (Lyons),  save  that  they  were  under  the  same 
provincial  governor  representing  the  emperor.  The  excep- 
tion was  Gaul,  which  had  a  provincial  assembly  for  certain 
very  minor  purposes. 

Egypt,  as  the  great  source  of  the  grain-supply  of  Rome, 
was  kept  by  the  emperors  in  special  dependence.  All  men 
of  senatorial  rank  were  forbidden  to  set  foot  in  it,  and  it  was 
administered  by  knights  as  the  personal  estate  of  the 
emperor.  This  was  to  preclude  the  possibility  of  a  rebellion 
in  so  vital  a  territory. 

Rome  had  rendered  the  peoples  of  the  provinces  a  service 
in  conquering  them;  she  had  suppressed  internal  wars  in 
the  empire  and  established  **  Roman  peace."  A  Greek 
orator  thus  described  the  condition  of  the  world:  "Every 
man  can  go  where  he  pleases;  travellers  are  as  safe  in  the 
mountains  as  the  inhabitants  of  a  city  within  its  walls.  The 
world  has  put  off  her  old  armor  and  attired  herself  in  holiday 
dress."  For  the  first  time  the  inhabitants  of  Europe  could 
live  in  tranquillity,  without  fear  of  being  massacred  or 
enslaved  by  a  hostile  army. 


344 


THE  ROMAN  PEOPLE. 


SOURCES. 

For  this  period  the  sources  available  in  English  are  most 
scanty.  Of  Dio  Cassius,  the  standard  historian  of  the  period, 
there  is  a  German  translation,  and  the  Historia  Augusta,  con- 
taining the  lives  of  the  emperors  from  Hadrian  to  Diocletian,  is 
easily  read  in  the  original.  The  chief  source  in  English  is 
Eutropius Bk.  viii,  §§  1-14. 

PARALLEL  READING. 

Botsford c.  xi. 

Bury cc.  xxiii-xxviii. 

Duruy. cc.  Ixxix-lxxxi. 

Merivale cc.  Ixi-lxviii. 

Morey c.  xxvi. 

Myers c.  xvi,  §§  225-228. 

Pelham Bk.  vi,  c.  i. 

Gibbon Decline  and  Fall  of  the  Roman  Empire^  cc 

i-iii. 

Capes,  W.  W Age  of  the  Antonines. 


M.    AUREI.TUS   ANTONINUS. 

(Bronze  medallion  of  the  year  222.) 


CHAPTER    XXIII. 
ARTS,   LETTERS,   AND   SOCIAL  CONDITIONS. 

Great  Monuments  at  Rome  and  in  the  Provinces. — 

During  the  first  two  centuries  of  the  empire  Rome  increased 
in  size  and  beauty.  The  emperors  erected  a  large  number 
of  new  structures. 

On  the  Palatme  hill,  where  Augustus  had  his  house, 
Caligula  built  himself  a  palace  which  was  adorned  with 
Greek  paintings  and  statues  and  extended  to  the  Forum. 
Some  of  the  most  beautiful  of  the  antique  paintings  known 
to  us  have  been  found  near  by  in  the  ruins  of  a  beautiful 
house  which  is  believed  to  have  been  originally  the  residence 
of  Livia,  the  widow  of  Augustus. 

In  the  plain  at  the  foot  of  the  Palatine  hill  Nero  built  the 
Golden  House  with  a  pond  and  a  park.  When  this  was 
destroyed  Domitian  built  a  new  palace  in  its  place,  with  a 
great  marble  hall  with  columns,  where  the  emperor  held  his 
tribunal  and  received  envoys  from  foreign  kings. 

On  the  site  of  Nero's  park  Vespasian  erected,  in  memory 
of  the  capture  of  Jerusalem,  the  arch  of  Titus,  with  bas- 
reliefs  representing  the  prince's  triumph  over  the  Jews.  On 
the  same  site  he  also  erected  the  Colosseum  for  the  circus 
games.  This  was  the  largest  of  all  the  amphitheatres,  so 
large  and  so  solid  that  it  is  still  standing.  It  is  620  feet 
long,  513  feet  wide,  and  157  feet  high.  The  arena  is  287 
feet  long  and  180  feet  wide.  The  seats  were  arranged  in 
several  tiers,  the  lowest  of  which  was  reserved  for  the 
emperor  and  the  nobles.     There  were  seats  for  eighty-seven 

345 


346  THE  ROMAN  PEOPLE. 

■---------:. --^ 

t'  thousand  spectators,  and  standing-room 
f(jr  fifteen  or  twenty  thousand  more. 
There   were    already   three   forums, 

J.  ^^^^^^^^^  :i^^^  original    one   and  those  of  Csesar 

I  and  Augustus.     Trajan  added  another, 

I  the  Forum  of  Trajan,   which  was  the 

]ii:;iiiiiiii:iiiiiii=;iMliii^Biii^::;::::i:i::::;:i.i^:ii  jargcst  aud  most  bcautiful  of  all.      He 

began  by  excavating  between  the  Capi- 
Wmmm^^^MMmMBE  toline  and  Quirinal  hills,  and  levelled 
iiiilillHI^K  a  space  six  hundred  and  fifty  feet  wide, 

||  to  a  depth  which  is  measured  by  the 
■i  height  of  the  Column  of  Trajan  (about 
:  140  feet).     The  area  thus  prepared  was 
ii^^H  made   the   site   of  a    group    of  monu- 

ments :  the  arch  of  triumph,  the  square 
with  the  equestrian  statue  of  Trajan  in 
the  middle,    the  basilica,    the    library, 
iiB:H;ii:;|;fJ^^M|||||i||||  ^j-^,^  tcmplc,  and  the  great  Column  of 

^^^^^'"^^^"^^^■■^" '■■"■"  Trajan,    adorned    with    bas-reliefs    in 

jj^^       ,,,:  marble     representing     scenes    in    the 

Dacian    war.     The    Forum  of   Trajan 

was  considered  one  of  the  wonders  of 

the  world. 

On  the  open  space  near  the  Campus 
Martins  the  emperors  constructed  a 
large  number  of  porticoes  and  galleries 
with  columns  under  which  the  people 
could  move  about  and  be  protected 
from  sun  and  rain.  Some  of  these 
were  adorned  with  statues  and  pictures 
like  a  museum. 

On    the    other    side    of    the    Tiber 

Hadrian  built  a  tomb,  the  Mausoleum 

itJUHffl^^  of  Hadrian  (now  known  as  the  Castle 

of  St.   Angelo),    with  a    stone  bridge. 

COLUMN  OF  TRAJAN.        Hc  also  Tcpaircd  Agrippa's  Pantheon. 


js^B 


ARTS,  LETTERS,  AND  SOOAL   CONDITIONS.        347 

At  the  end  of  the  reign  of  Augustus  there  were  seven 
aqueducts  bringing  water  into  Rome.  Three  new  ones  had 
now  been  constructed,  making  nearly  two  hundred  and  sixty 


MAUSOLEUM    OF   HADRIAN. 


miles  of  conduits,  twenty  of  which  were  supported  by 
columns  and  arches.  Rome's  water-supply  was  better  than 
that  of  London  or  Paris  to-day. 


34« 


THE   ROMAN  PEOPLE, 


A  portion  of  this  water  was  for  the  public  baths,  the 
Thermo:,  all  of  which  were  constructed  under  the  emperors 
i^Baths  of  Agrippa,  Nero,  Titus,  Trajan,  etc.).     These  baths. 


RUINS    OF    ROMAN    AQUEDUCT. 

which  were  used  as  much  for  social  intercourse  as  for  bath- 
ing, were  enormous  edifices  adorned  with  statues,  and 
accommodated  sixteen  hundred  bathers.  The  largest  were 
the  Baths  of  Caracalla,   built  between   206    ani    217  a.d. 


ARTS,  LETTERS,  AND  SOCIAL  CONDITIONS.        349 


Over  the  vaulted  chambers  which  served  as  storage-  and 
furnace-rooms  there  were,  first,  a  great  marble  tank  of  cold 
water;  next,  a  sweating-room  (164  feet  by  82)  with  massive 
granite  pillars;  third,  a  great  heated  hall  surrounded  by 
small  bath-rooms;  fourth,  two  immense  galleries  with 
columns;  fifth,  dressing-rooms;  sixth,  rubbing-rooms.  All 
of  these  were  paved  with  mosaic  and  adorned  with  pictures 
and  statuary.  Outside  there  was  a  large  garden,  shut  in  by 
a  wall  of  buildings,  comprising  a  portico,  libraries,  gym- 
nasiums, and  lounging-rooms.     The  water  was  brought  by 


AQUEDUCT   AT  NIMES. 

an  aqueduct  to  a  reservoir  formed  by  sixty  great  vaulted 
chambers. 

Claudius  and  Trajan  built  the  two  great  harbors  at  Ostia 
to  permit  ships  to  land  near  Rome. 

We  do  not  know  all  the  monuments  that  were  erected 
under  the  emperors.  Many  have  disappeared;  others,  in 
the  African  and  Syrian  deserts,  have  only  recently  been  dis- 
covered. Enough  remain,  however,  to  give  us  an  idea  of  a 
country  embellished  with  bridges,  aqueducts,  circuses, 
theatres,  temples,  basilicas,  and  triumphal  arches. 

The  ruins  of  about  eighty  amphitheatres  have  been  dis- 
covered  in   Italy.      Two  of   Italy's   greatest    seaports   date 


35 o  THE  ROMAN  PEOPLE. 

from  this  period,  Centumellae  (Civita  Vecchia)  on  the  west 
coast  and  Ancona  on  the  Adriatic;  both  were  constructed 
under  Trajan. 

In  Spain  we  may  still  see  the  bridge  of  Alcantara  over  the 
Tagus,  sixty  feet  in  height,  built  in  the  reign  of  Trajan;  also 
the  huge  aqueduct  at  Segovia.  Gaul  has  preserved  the 
monuments  constructed  in  the  south,  the  theatre  and 
triumphal  arch  of  Orange,  the  arenas  at  Aries  and  Nimes, 
the  temple  at  Nimes  known  as  the  Block-house,  and  the 
aqueduct  which  Ijrought  the  mountain  springs  through  the 
valley  of  the  Gard  to  the  city. 

The  Roman  House. — A  rich  man's  house  under  the 
empire  was  not  much  like  the  Roman  house  of  antiquity. 
It  was  copied  from  the  Greek  houses  in  the  Orient,  with  the 
front  of  the  house  facing  away  from  the  street. 

Entering,  one  crossed  an  enclosed  gallery  which  took  the 
place  of  the  old  vestibule,  and  came  to  the  reception  hall. 
This  was  still  called  the  atrium,  though  more  like  the  Greek 
aula;  it  w^as  supported  by  marble  columns,  paved  with 
mosaic,  and  adorned  with  statues.  The  rooms  opening  off 
the  atrium  no  longer  served  as  bedrooms;  they  were  the 
conversation-rooms,  the  dining-rooms,  furnished  with  bronze 
or  possibly  silver  couches,  the  picture-gallery  [pinacotheca), 
library,  and  great  reception-hall. 

The  old  court  behind  the  house  was  replaced  by  the 
peristyle,  open  galleries  supported  by  rows  of  columns  sur- 
rounding a  little  garden,  with  shrubs  and  baskets  of  flowers, 
and  a  fountain. 

Finally,  beyond  the  garden,  in  the  lower  building  were 
the  family  bedrooms,  bath-rooms,  and  gymnasium. 

It  was  now  the  fashion  to  decorate  the  interior  of  the 
house.  The  floors  were  paved  with  mosaic,  the  walls 
adorned  with  pictures,  marble  slabs,  or  hangings,  and  the 
ceiling  wainscoted  in  some  rich  wood.  There  were  tables 
of  valuable  woods,  and  cupboards  of  bronze  or  silver  where 
the  silver  vessels  were  displayed. 


352 


THE  ROMAN  PEOPLE. 


Country  houses  had  the  added  advantage  of  parks,  ponds, 
reservoirs  for  breeding  fish,  aviaries  of  rare  birds,  and  under- 
ground galleries  for  hot  weather.     The  adjoining  buildings, 

kitchens,  laun- 
dries, mill,  oven, 
spinning-  and 
weaving  -  r  o  o  m  s, 
and  slave-cabins, 
formed  in  some 
cases  a  complete 
village  inhabited 
by  hundreds  of 
slaves. 

Shows. — It  was 
an  old-established 
custom  at  Rome  to 
celebrate  festivals 
in  honor  of  the 
gods  with  games 
or  shows.  Each 
set  of  games  lasted 
several  days  and 
was  composed  of 
a  series  of  public 
shows.  The  num- 
ber of  these  con- 
stantly increased. 
Under  Augustus 
there    were    seven 

GROUND-PLAN    OF   A   ROMAN    HOUSE.  , 

(^House  o/Pansa  in  Pompeii.)  CaCh     year,     COVCr- 

a.  Vestibule,     i.  Entrance-passage.     2.  Atrium.     3.  •  Qlf-r%o-^thAr 

Apartments.      4.  Alae.      5.  Tablinum.      6.  Fauces,     7.  ^"&  d-ItOgeiner 

Library,     8   and    11.  Exedra,  (?)      9.  Cavsedium  (Peri-  civfir  civ  rloTi-o         Af 

style).     10,   Side-entrance,      12.  Chambers  and  dormi-  ^^^l-y-MX  uayb.       i\X 

tories,     13,  14.  Triclinium   and    side-room,     15.  CEcus.  +Up      e'r\(\       of       fhf 

16,  Muniment-room.      17.  Passage  to  the  garden,     t8.  ' "^      ^"^       ^^       "-"^ 

19.  Kitchen   and    larder.     20     Stables.      A-E.  Rooms  empire    there  WCrC 
rented  out  as  dwellings.    F,  G.  Bakery  and  shop.    H,  I.  ^ 

Pottery  and  shop.  K,  Shops,  One    hundred  and 

seventy-five  days  of  shows  (one  hundred   and   one  for  the 


ARTS,  LETTERS,  AND  SOCIAL   CONDITIONS.        353 

theatres,  sixty-four  for  the  circuses,  and  ten  for  gladiatorial 
combats).  The  ordinary  shows  lasted  from  morning  to 
night;  the  citizens  enjoyed  them  without  pay.  The  show 
became  the  supreme  passion  of  the  Roman  world. 

The  theatre  had  first  been  organized  on  the  Greek  model ; 
the  actors  were  masked,  and  the  plays  an  imitation  of  the 
Greek.  The  Romans  cared  very  little  for  this  delicate  style 
of  entertainment,  and  greatly  preferred  the  mime,  a  sort  of 
comic  farce.  The  actors,  who  impersonated  ridiculous  char- 
acters, wore  a  sort  of  clown's  costume,  slapped  themselves, 
and  executed  grotesque  dances.  Contrary  to  ancient  custom, 
the  female  parts  were  taken  by  women. 

The  pantomime  also  was  very  popular.  One  actor 
appeared  alone  on  the  stage  and,  without  uttering  a  word, 
played  his  part  by  means  of  gestures  and  facial  expression. 
Sometimes  there  were  ballets  by  professional  dancers. 

In  some  rare  instances  there  were  songs  and  recitations, 
as  in  Greece.  Nero  appeared  on  the  stage  as  a  singer. 
Domitian,  when  he  established  the  Capitoline  games,  added 
a  chorus  of  singers,  and  built  for  them  a  special  covered 
theatre,  the  Odeon. 

The  Circus,  designed  for  chariot-races,  was  a  race-track 
surrounded  by  rising  tiers  of  seats.  There  were  several 
circuses  at  Rome;  the  most  noted  of  these  was  the  Circus 
Maximus,  at  the  foot  of  the  Palatine  hill,  with  accommoda- 
tions for  two  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  spectators.  At 
either  end  of  the  sand-covered  arena  was  a  post  of  gilded 
bronze,  around  which  the  chariot  must  pass.  The  course 
was  seven  times  around  the  arena,  whose  circumference  was 
over  half  a  mile.  The  driver  stood  on  a  light  chariot,  drawn 
commonly  by  four  horses,  with  his  whip  in  his  hand  and  the 
reins  fastened  to  his  belt,  shouting  all  the  while  to  excite 
and  encourage  his  horses.  Often  the  chariot  struck  against 
the  post  as  it  turned.  The  winner  of  the  race  received  a 
prize. 

Twenty-four  races  were  the  usual   number  for  one  day. 


354  THE  ROMAN  PEOPLE. 

The  chariots  were  supplied  by  rival  companies,  each  dressing 
its  drivers  in  a  distinguishing  color.  There  were  four  colors 
altogether,  white,  red,  blue,  and  green,  but  these  were 
finally  reduced  to  two,  the  Blues  and  the  Greens.  The 
spectators  sided  with  one  or  the  other,  and  during  the  race 
they  shouted,  stamped,  and  waved  their  handkerchiefs; 
sometimes  they  even  came  to  blows  with  one  another. 
Chariot-racing  became  as  popular  as  horse-racing  is  with  us. 
Even  the  women  and  children  laid  wagers  and  talked  of  the 
races.  When  the  emperors  supported  one  color  or  the  other, 
as  Caligula  and  Nero  did  the  green  and  Vitellius  the  blue, 
the  rivalry  became  a  political  affair. 

The  amphitheatre  was  used  for  various  sorts  of  shows, 
chief  among  which  were  the  gladiatorial  combats.  Men 
armed  with  swords  (the  word  gladiator  is  derived  from 
gladius,  a  sword)  fought  until  one  or  both  were  killed,  for 
the  amusement  of  the  spectators.  The  custom  was  an  old 
one,  probably  of  Etruscan  origin,  a  sort  of  human  sacrifice 
in  honor  of  a  departed  soul ;  for  these  combats  at  first  took 
place  only  at  the  funeral  of  some  noble. 

Later  combats  became  a  regular  form  of  entertainment, 
and  the  number  of  combatants  increased.  The  first  gladia- 
tors were  barbarians  captured  in  war,  who  fought  in  native 
costume  and  with  native  weapons.  After  each  great  war 
thousands  of  prisoners  were  dedicated  to  this  purpose, 
Trajan  giving  ten  thousand  Dacian  warriors.  Later  slaves 
and  men  condemned  to  death  were  employed.  Finally  it 
became  a  profession,  which  men  entered  either  as  a  means 
of  livelihood  or  because  they  enjoyed  it.  They  were  pre- 
pared for  the  arena  in  a  special  school,  where  they  were 
closely  confined  and  subjected  to  a  severe  discipline  and 
continual  practice.  Each  bound  himself  by  oath  to  "  let 
himself  be  beaten  with  rods,  burned  with  hot  irons,  or  even 
killed  by  the  chief." 

On  the  show-day  the  gladiators  entered  the  arena,  salut- 
ing the  emperor  with  these  words:  *'  Farewell,  Caesar;  those 


^RTS,  LETTERS,  AhlD  SOCIAL   CONDITIONS.        355 

who  are  about  to  die  salute  thee."  Then  at  the  sound  of 
horns  and  trumpets  they  rushed  at  each  other  and  fought, 
sometimes  singly,  sometimes  in  groups.  The  two  sides  w^ere 
never  armed  alike.  A  half-naked  retiarius,  armed  with  a  net, 
contended  with  a  myrmillo,  armed  with  every  possible 
weapon;  a  Samnite  with  a  small  sword  and  a  large  shield, 
against  a  Thracian  with  a  small  shield  and  a  large  sword. 
When  one  of  the  two  combatants  fell,  the  spectators  decided 
whether  he  should  be  killed  or  spared.  Attendants  with 
ropes  removed  the  bodies  that  were  left  in  the  arena,  and 
took  them  to  a  room  where  they  were  examined.  A  man  in 
the  guise  of  Mercury  touched  them  with  a  hot  iron  to  see  if 
there  was  still  life  in  them.  Another  in  the  guise  of  Charon 
dispatched  with  a  club  those  who  were  hopelessly  wounded; 
the  others  were  cared  for  and  restored  to  health. 

There  were  also  combats  in  war-chariots  or  on  horseback. 
Even  naval  battles  [naumach'ce)  were  fought  in  the  lakes  and 
reservoirs.  Claudius  had  two  entire  fleets  contend  together 
on  Lake  Fucinus;  their  crews,  numbering  nineteen  thousand 
men,  were  condemned  prisoners  gathered  together  from  all 
parts  of  the  empire;  engines  of  war  were  placed  along  the 
shores  of  the  lake  to  compel  them  to  fight. 

The  emperor  always  assisted  in  these  massacres.  Marcus 
Aurelius  made  himself  unpopular  in  Rome  by  showing  his 
distaste  for  them,  preferring  to  spend  his  time  in  reading, 
talking,  and  hearing  the  grievances  of  his  subjects. 

The  amphitheatre  was  also  used  for  hunts.  Wild  beasts, 
lions,  panthers,  leopards,  bears,  boars,  elephants,  buffaloes, 
stags,  bulls,  and  ostriches,  were  let  loose  in  the  arena. 
Pompey  and  Caesar  introduced  new  animals,  the  hippo- 
potamus, giraffe,  and  crocodile.  Hunters  slew  these 
animals  with  bow,  javelin,  or  spear.  During  the  year 
1 06  A.D.  almost  eleven  thousand  of  them  were  killed.  Two 
animals  were  also  pitted  against  each  other,  a  bear  against  a 
buffalo  or  a  bull  against  an  elephant ;  or  a  man  with  a  sword  or 
spear,  and  without  cuirass  or  shield,  against  a  lion  or  a  bear. 


356 


THE  ROMAN  PEOPLE. 


Later  on  it  proved  more  interesting  to  chain  a  man  naked 
to  a  post  and  set  a  wild  beast  on  him;  the  pleasure  consisted 
in  seeing  him  torn  apart  and  devoured.  Condemned 
prisoners  were  used  for  this  purpose,  both  men  and  women, 
and  their  execution  converted  into  public  entertainment. 
They  were  not  even  permitted  to  die  in  a  natural  manner. 
One  was  dressed  to  represent  Orpheus  and  was  destroyed  by 
a  bear;  another,  as  Hercules,  was  burned  on  a  funeral -pyre; 
another  crucified  as  the  brigand  Laureolus. 


SCHOOL   PUNISHMENT. 


Not  in  Rome  only  but  in  all  the  great  cities  of  the  empire 
were  the  people  entertained  by  comedies,  mimes,  chariot- 
races,  gladiatorial  combats,  and  prisoners  delivered  to  wild 
beasts. 

Literature. — A  number  of  the  ancient  tongues  were  still 
spoken  in  the  empire:  Oscan  and  Etruscan  in  Italy,  Celtic 
in  Gaul  and  Britain,  Basque  in  Spain,  Berberian  and 
Phoenician  in  Africa,  Coptic  in  Egypt,  Syrian  in  the  East, 
and  Albanian  in  Illyria.  Only  two  languages,  however, 
were  written,  Latin  in  the  West,  Greek  in  the  East.     The 


ARTS,  LETTERS,  AND  SOCIAL   CONDITIONS.        357 

subject  peoples,  having  had  no  native  Hterature,  adopted 
that  of  one  of  the  great  ancient  races:  the  East  produced 
Greek  writers;  the  West,  Latin  writers. 

There  were  Greek  schools  of  long  standing  in  Athens, 
Alexandria,  and  Rhodes,  and  others  were  founded  in  Gaul, 
Rome,  and  Carthage.  Under  the  empire  some  of  the  cities 
established  Latin  schools  for  the  youth  of  rich  families,  and 
began  to  pay  salaries  to  teachers,  especially  in  the  branches 
of  rhetoric  and  philosophy. 

The  most  famous  Latin  authors  of  the  first  century  were 
not  natives  of  Italy,  but  belonged  to  the  Roman  cities  of 
Gaul,  and  of  Spain  in  particular.  Gallus  the  poet,  Trogus 
Pompeius  the  historian,  and  Aper  the  orator,  all  known  to 
us  only  by  reputation,  were  natives  of  southern  Gaul. 
Seneca  the  rhetorician,  Seneca  the  philosopher,  Lucan, 
Silius  Italicus,  and  Martial,  the  poets,  Pomponius  Mela  the 
geographer,  Columella  the  agriculturist,  Quintilian  the 
rhetorician,  were  all  Spanish  Romans. 

Public  readings  were  the  fashion  of  the  period.  The 
assemblies  in  the  Forum  and  great  political  trials  had  been 
given  up  and  orators  had  no  opportunity  to  display  their 
powers.  Pollio,  a  favorite  of  Augustus,  set  the  fashion  of 
inviting  his  friends  to  hear  him  read  his  works.  It  became 
the  custom  among  literary  Romans  to  gather  their  friends 
together  and  read  them  what  they  had  written,  poems, 
panegyrics,  fragments  of  history,  even  tragedies.  In  this 
way  authors  secured  an  audience  that  was  obliged  to 
applaud. 

This  was  also  a  time  of  famous  rhetoricians.  Young  men 
learned  the  art  of  speaking  in  the  schools,  the  masters  teach- 
ing them  the  rules  which  for  two  centuries  the  professors  of 
eloquence  had  been  shaping,  and  giving  them  the  material 
of  imaginary  discourses  to  develop. 

The  second  century  was,  after  the  Augustan  age,  the  most 
brilliant  in  the  literature  of  the  empire.  Both  Greek  and 
Latin  authors  appeared  at  this  time. 


35^  THE  ROMAN  PEOPLE, 

The  Latin  writers  lived  mainly  during  Trajan's  reign. 
There  was  Pliny  the  younger,  chiefly  known  for  his  letters; 
Juvenal,  famed  for  his  Satires;  Suetonius,  the  biographer  of 
the  first  twelve  emperors,  and  the  most  celebrated  of  all; 
Tacitus  the  historian  and  one  of  the  most  brilliant  of  Roman 
writers.      All  these  Were  natives  of  Italy. 

The  Greek  writers  flourished  mainly  under  Hadrian. 
The  best  know^n  are  Plutarch,  a  Boeotian  Greek,  author  of  the 
Lives  of  famous  men ;  the  orator  Dion  Chrysostomus,  and 
two  historians,  Appian  of  Alexandrea,  and  Arrian,  governor 
under  Hadrian;  Lucian  the  satirist  and  philosopher,  and 
two  famous  scholars,  Ptolemy  the  geographer  and  Galen  the 
physician.  Marcus  Aurelius  composed  his  Meditations  in 
Greek. 

The  Stoics. — The  Romans  were  not  interested  in  theoret- 
ical philosophy,  but  they  adopted  the  doctrines  of  the  Greek 
philosophers  on  morality,  in  order  to  have  a  rule  of  life. 
They  divided  at  first  in  two  sects.  Stoics  and  Epicureans. 
Horace  was  an  Epicurean;  he  said  that  the  only  real  good 
was  pleasure,  and  that  the  wise  man  lived  in  peaceful 
indifference  to  the  future. 

At  the  close  of  the  first  century  the  Stoics  predominated. 
Their  belief  was  that  the  supreme  good  was  virtue,  which 
consisted  in  observing  the  laws  established  by  the  Divinity. 
This  world's  goods,  riches,  honor,  beauty,  health,  were  as 
nothing  to  the  wise  man;  he  held  only  to  virtue. 

The  most  famous  of  the  Stoics  was  Epictetus,  a  Greek 
belonging  to  the  first  century.  He  was  at  first  a  slave. 
One  day  when  his  master,  one  of  Nero's  favorites,  was  beat- 
ing him,  he  said,  "  You  will  break  my  leg."  The  master 
continued  his  violence  and  broke  the  leg.  Epictetus  said 
quietly,  "  I  told  you  you  would  do  it."  He  was  freed  from 
slavery  and  began  to  preach,  attracting  a  large  number  of 
disciples.  He  died  under  Trajan.  One  of  his  pupils  col- 
lected his  discourses  in  a  Manual.  Epictetus  urged,  as  of 
primary   importance,    the    subjection   of    the   passions    and 


y4RTS,  LETTERS,  AND  SOCIAL   CONDITIONS.        359 

obedience  to  God.  "  You  must  shape  your  souls  as  a 
carpenter  does  his  wood. "  "When  Zeus  (God)  sent  you 
upon  the  earth,  he  placed  on  you  his  commands :  love  your 
fellow  man,  covet  not  your  neighbor's  goods,  be  just  and 
faithful."  These  commands  are  graven  on  the  conscience; 
the  wise  man  must  overcome  his  egotism  and  the  violence 
of  his  temper;  he  must  help  his  suffering  fellow  men  by 
setting  them  a  good  example:  **  Like  you  I  have  neither 
country,  house,  property,  nor  slaves;  I  have  only  the  earth, 
heaven,  and  my  cloak."  The  aim  of  philosophy  is  to  teach 
us  to  despise  this  world  and  give  us  the  perfect  serenity 
which  nothing  can  disturb.  It  is  all  summed  up  in  this 
formula:  **  Bear  and  forbear." 

Stoicism  was  taken  up  by  the  Roman  nobles  in  the  first 
century,  especially  by  those  who  were  opposed  to  the 
emperor.  The  foremost  senators  often  kept  a  philosopher 
near  them  to  direct  their  consciences  and  encourage  them 
when  they  were  depressed.  If  they  received  a  sentence  of 
death,  they  made  it  a  matter  of  honor  to  take  their  lives 
bravely.  Seneca,  Nero's  tutor,  was  a  Stoic,  but  a  very 
imperfect  disciple  of  the  doctrine,  because  he  had  amassed 
a  large  fortune  and  justified  the  emperor  in  murdering  his 
mother.  Seneca  calmly  opened  his  veins  and  dictated  a 
discourse  to  his  secretaries  while  the  blood  flowed. 

Philosophy  now  became  a  profession,  its  followers  serving 
as  directors  of  the  conscience,  and  counsellors  concerning 
the  conduct  of  life;  a  number  of  the  emperors  had  each  his 
philosopher.  They  even  visited  prisoners,  sick  persons,  and 
condemned  criminals,  to  show  them  what  Seneca  called 
'the  saving  light  of  truth."  They  sometimes  addressed 
the  audience  at  the  theatre.  In  many  cases  they  led 
abstemious  lives,  eating  poor  food,  drinking  only  water, 
sleeping  on  the  ground,  clothed  only  in  a  cloak,  and  letting 
the  beard  and  hair  grow  long.  Some  had  no  home;  with 
no  possessions  but  a  cloak,  a  wallet,  and  a  staff,  they  begged 
their  way  from  place  to  place. 


y 


360  THE  ROMAN  PEOPLE. 

They  put  their  pupils  through  certain  exercises  to  fortify 
them  in  virtue:  prayer,  meditation  on  a  moral  thought, 
nightly  examination  of  the  conscience,  and  reading  the  life 
of  a  great  philosopher.  They  declared  themselves  citizens 
of  the  universe  and  regarded  all  men  as  brothers,  even  bar- 
barians and  slaves.  Seneca  already  began  to  recommend 
milder  treatment  of  slaves,  and  to  condemn  cruel  masters 
and  gladiatorial  combats. 

Marcus  Aurelius,  who  was  a  disciple  of  Epictetus,  was 
called  *'  the  philosopher  on  the  throne."  Even  in  time  of 
war  he  continued  to  examine  his  conscience.  It  was  at  this 
time  that  he  wrote  his  Counsels  to  himself:  '*  Remember  that 
all  men  are  your  brothers  and  you  will  love  them.  What 
must  you  do  ?  Honor  the  gods  and  do  good  to  your  fellow 
men." 

*  Disturbing  Elements. — Although  the  age  of  the  An- 
tonines  has  been  characterized  as  the  one  when  the 
Mediterranean  lands  were  possibly  governed  better  than  at 
any  time  before  or  since,  yet  the  second  century  was  not 
without  its  darker  side. 

In  the  reign  of  Marcus  Aurelius  a  frightful  pestilence  was 
raging  in  the  East,  and  this  was  imported  by  returning 
Roman  soldiers  into  Europe,  where  its  mortality  seems  to 
have  been  comparable  to  that  of  the  Black  Death  in  the 
fourteenth  century.  It  has  been  estimated  that  half  of  the 
population  of  Italy,  for  instance,  was  swept  away.  This 
loss  of  population  was  not  without  serious  effect  upon  the 
resources  of  the  empire,  and  especially  upon  its  military 
strength. 

The  Germanic  peoples  were  beginning  to  press  heavily 
upon  the  frontiers.  This  was  but  the  shadow,  cast  in 
advance,  of  the  great  irruption  of  Germans  which  was  in  the 
next  two  centuries  to  overwhelm  the  western  half  of  the 
empire. 

One  social  result  following  the  victories  of  Marcus 
Aurelius  over  the  Marcomanni  was  the  transplantation  to 


ARTS,  LETTERS,  AND  SOCIAL  CONDITIONS.        361 

Roman  soil  of  great  numbers  of  these  peoples  who  were 
settled  there  in  a  half-servile  condition.  They  were  not 
prisoners  of  war,  and  yet  they  were  under  the  surveillance 
of  Roman  landowners,  at  first  the  emperor,  and  later  private 
citizens,  on  whose  estates  they  were  set  to  work.  In  their 
relation  to  their  masters  may  be  seen  the  germs  of  the  serf- 
dom of  the  Middle  Ages.  They  were  called  '*  coloni."  In 
process  of  time  many  of  the  lower  class  of  Roman  citizens 
gravitated  into  a  similar  condition  of  serfdom.  Thus  a  caste 
system  was  begun  which  was  to  spread  until  it  had  embraced 
all  the  orders  of  society,  and  become  one  of  the  vicious 
elements  in  the  social  system  of  the  later  empire. 

PARALLEL  READING. 

Botsford  ...     c.  xi,  pp.  256-262. 

Bury Students  Roman  Empire,  cc.  xxix-xxxi. 

Morey c.  xxvi. 

Capes Age  of  the  Antonines.  ^ 

Farrar ....   Seekers  after  God;  Marcus  Aureitus. 
Gibbon cc.  i-iii. 


CHAPTER   XXIV. 
CHRISTIANITY. 

The  Christian  Religion. — It  was  during  the  reign  of 
Tiberius  that  Christ  was  condemned  by  the  Jewish  Council 
at  Jerusalem  and  crucified.  He  left  only  a  small  number  of 
followers,  led  by  the  Twelve  Disciples.  He  himself  had 
announced  that  his  religion  should  have  a  humble  beginning: 
**  The  kingdom  of  God  is  like  to  a  grain  of  mustard-seed, 
which  indeed  is  the  least  of  all  the  seeds,  but  when  it  is 
grown  it  is  the  greatest  among  herbs,  and  becometh  a  tree  so 
that  the  birds  of  the  air  come  and  lodge  in  the  branches 
thereof." 

Christ  had  said  to  his  disciples,  "  Go  teach  all  nations." 
Henceforth  they  were  known  as  "  apostles  "  (messengers), 
and  they  went  into  every  country  to  preach  the  Gospel,  the 
**glad  tidings,"  the  news  that  God  had  come  upon  the  earth 
in  the  form  of  Christ  to  save  all  who  believed  in  him.  Those 
who  adopted  this  creed  called  themselves  Christians. 

The  first  apostles  were  all  Jews,  and  most  of  them  remained 
in  Jerusalem.  The  first  Christians  were  Jews  also,  and  con- 
tinued to  practise  the  Jewish  customs. 

It  was  a  new  convert,  a  Jew  of  Tardus,  the  apostle  Paul, 
that  carried  the  Gospel  into  the  Greek  cities,  not  only  to  the 
Jews,  but  to  the  pagans.  He  said  to  them:  **  But  now  in 
Christ  Jesus  ye  who  sometimes  were  far  off  are  made  nigh  by 
the  blood  of  Christ."  The  pagans  could  henceforth  become 
Christians  without  adopting  the  Jewish  customs;  the  other 
nations,  instead  of  being  shut  out,  as  they  were  from  the 

362 


CHRISTIANITY.  363 

Jewish  religion,  could  all  come  together  in  the  religion  of 
Christ. 

The  new  religion  was  to  believe  in  Jesus  Christ,  the  Son 
of  God,  who  gave  his  life  to  save  mankind,  to  follow  his 
example  and  practise  his  teachings.  His  acts  and  words 
were  recorded  in  books  written  in  Greek  and  called  the 
Gospels. 

Jesus,  surnamed  the  Christ,  that  is  to  say,  the  anointed 
one,  is  the  Master,  the  Lord,  and  the  Saviour  of  men,  come 
to  found  the  kingdom  of  God  on  earth.  The  Jews  believed 
that  he  wished  to  become  king,  and  when  they  crucified  him 
they  set  up  over  his  cross  the  mocking  inscription,  *'  Jesus 
of  Nazareth,  the  king  of  the  Jews."  But  royalty  was  not 
what  Jesus  desired;  he  said,  "  My  kingdom  is  not  of  this 
world."  The  kingdom  of  God  is  the  union  in  heaven  of  all 
those  who  believe  in  him.  To  please  God  and  make  himself 
worthy  of  his  kingdom,  the  Christian  need  not  offer  sacrifices 
and  celebrate  elaborate  ceremonies,  like  the  pagan  and  the 
Jew.  He  must  labor,  however,  to  make  himself  perfect. 
**  They  that  worship  God  must  worship  him  in  spirit  and  in 
truth."  Christ  himself  gave  the  watchword:  "Be  ye  also 
perfect,  as  your  Father  in  heaven  is  perfect." 

To  be  perfect,  the  first  thing  is  to  love.  "Thou  shalt 
love  the  Lord  thy  God  with  all  thy  soul,  and  thy  neighbor 
as  thyself."     To  love  others  is  to  do  good  to  them. 

Christ  never  made  any  distinction  of  persons:  he  died  to 
save  not  a  single  people,  but  all  peoples.  He  commanded 
his  disciples  to  "  teach  all  nations."  All  men  are  equal 
before  God. 

By  the  example  of  his  own  life  he  taught  us  not  to  despise 
poverty,  going  about  from  place  to  place  without  possessions 
of  any  sort. 

He  taught  also  humility.  He  interested  himself  in  the 
poor  and  sick,  women  and  children,  and  all  those  that  the 
world  least  esteemed.  His  disciples  were  poor  men:  ''Be 
ye  meek  and  lowly  of  heart."      He  loved  children,  and  said, 


364  THE  ROMAN  PEOPLE, 

**  Except  ye  become  as  little  children,  ye  shall  not  enter  the 
kingdom  of  heaven."  "  Suffer  little  children  to  come  unto 
me,  and  forbid  them  not,  for  of  such  is  the  kingdom  of 
heaven." 

He  preached  the  renunciation  of  all  the  things  of  this 
world,  wealth,  honors,  power,  and  family.  "  If  any  man 
come  to  me  and  hate  not  his  father,  and  mother,  and  wife, 
and  children,  and  brethren,  and  sisters,  yea,  and  his  own 
life  also,  he  cannot  be  my  disciple." 

The  Primitive  Church. — Christ  and  his  apostles  devoted 
themselves  preferably  to  the  outcasts  of  the  world.  For  a 
long  time  the  majority  of  Christians  were  poor  people, 
working  men,  petty  employees,  and  slaves,  all  living  in  the 
cities,  where  Greek  was  spoken.  Even  at  Rome  there  were 
few  Christians  except  among  the  Greeks;  their  writings  and 
the  inscriptions  on  their  tombs  are  all  in  Greek. 

The  Christians  of  each  city  met  together  for  religious 
worship;  this  meeting  was  the  church  (assembly),  and  its 
members  formed  one  great  family.  They  treated  one  another 
as  brothers,  lending  assistance  in  time  of  need,  the  rich 
caring  for  the  poor,  the  sick,  and  the  afflicted.  This  com- 
munity called  itself  the  church;  for  example,  the  church  of 
Corinth,  the  church  of  Antioch.  In  the  same  way  the  whole 
union  of  Christians  throughout  the  world  was  called  the 
Church  of  Christ,  or  the  Catholic  (universal)  Church. 

A  very  simple  service  was  celebrated  at  these  meetings. 
Prayers  were  offered  to  God,  hymns  sung,  the  Gospels  or 
Epistles  read  aloud,  with  an  exhortation  or  explanation  of 
the  Holy  Word  by  some  member  of  the  church.  The  great 
ceremony  was  the  Lord's  Supper,  also  called  the  Eucharist 
(giving  of  thanks),  in  memory  of  the  last  time  Christ  ate 
with  his  disciples.  The  worshippers  partook  of  a  very  frugal 
repast,  the  **  love -feast  "  (brotherly  feast),  thanked  God, 
and  kissed  one  another. 

The  new  convert  who  desired  to  join  the  Christians  had 
first  to  be  initiated  into  the  Christian  doctrine.     While  he 


CHRISTIANITY,  3^5 

was  receiving  this  instruction  he  stood  at  the  door  during 
their  meetings  and  listened  to  the  prayer,  singing,  and  read- 
ing; but  he  was  not  yet  admitted  to  membership  in  the 
church,  nor  could  he  take  the  communion.  When  his 
instruction  was  completed  he  was  admitted  to  the  church 
by  the  ceremony  of  baptism.  Clothed  in  a  white  robe,  he 
was  plunged  into  the  water,  coming  forth  a  neophyte  (new- 
born), newly  born  into  the  Christian  life. 

Tertullian,  a  Christian  writer  of  the  end  of  the  second 
century,  said  of  these  reunions:  '*  We  assemble  to  offer  our 
prayer  to  God  and  to  read  the  Holy  Scriptures.  We  hear 
exhortation  and  reprimands.  .  .  .  Each  of  us  brings  a  small 
offering  at  the  beginning  of  the  month,  but  this  is  not  com- 
pulsory. The  money  is  used  to  feed  or  bury  the  poor,  to 
relieve  the  orphan  and  the  sick  and  aged."  Of  the  Holy 
Communion:  "We  all  sit  down  at  the  table  and,  after 
offering  a  prayer  to  God,  we  eat  what  our  hunger  demands. 
.  .  .  Then  we  wash  our  hands  and  light  our  torches.  Each 
one  is  asked  to  sing  a  canticle  from  the  Holy  Scriptures  or 
of  his  own  composition.  .  .  .  The  feast  ends,  as  it  began, 
with  a  prayer. ' ' 

In  each  city  the  church  formed  a  little  society,  organized 
after  the  model  of  the  Greek  associations  of  the  period.  It 
had  leaders  to  conduct  the  services,  instruct  converts,  and 
reprimand  all  who  did  wrong;  these  were  called  presbyters 
(elders),  and  were  often  compared  to  the  shepherd  who 
guards  his  flock  from  the  wolves.  There  were  also  deacons 
(attendants),  whose  duty  it  was  to  administer  the  church 
funds,  distribute  relief  to  the  poor,  and  visit  the  sick. 

The  head  of  the  church  was  called  the  bishop  (overseer) ; 
he  supervised  the  community  and  represented  it.  He  was 
regarded  as  the  successor  of  the  Apostles,  invested  with 
supernatural  power,  and  the  guardian  of  the  true  faith. 

The  most  venerated  of  all  was  the  bishop  of  Rome,  the 
successor  of  Saint  Peter  and  bishop  of  the  imperial  capital.^ 

[^  It  is  hardly  necessary  to  say  that  these  are  the  views  of  M.  Seignobos, 


366 


THE  ROMAN  PEOPLE. 


Persecution. — The  Jews  were  the  first  to  persecute  the 
Christians.  Saint  Stephen,  the  first  martyr,  was  stoned  to 
death  in  the  streets  of  Jerusalem. 

The  Roman  government  did  not  concern  itself  with  the 
beliefs  of  its  subjects,  but  allowed  every  man  to  practise  his 

religion  freely.  How- 
ever, there  were  certain 
ceremonies  in  which 
every  Roman  had  to 
take  part :  he  must  assist 
in  the  public  festivals  in 
honor  of  the  gods;  in 
the  courts  he  must  sweai 
by  the  gods;  if  a  soldier, 
he  must  worship  the 
standards,  the  genius  of 
the  emperor,  and  the 
genius  of  the  army;  if  a 
magistrate,  he  must  join 
in  the  sacrifice  which 
inaugurated  every  public 
act,  and  himself  offer  incense  to  the  god  Augustus  and  the 
goddess  Rome.  Now  to  a  Christian  these  acts  seemed  to 
be  impious.  They  refused  to  take  part  in  them  and  so 
exposed  themselves  to  condemnation,  not  for  being  Chris- 
tians, but  for  disobeying  the  laws  of  the  empire. 

The  inhabitants  of  the  cities  detested  these  people  who 
never  showed  themselves  at  the  festivals,  shows,  or  banquets, 
who  lived  apart  from  the  rest  and  seemed  to  despise  them. 
They  often  regarded  the  Christians  as  sorcerers  and  magicians. 
The  Christians  held  secret  meetings,  and  the  public,  being 
excluded,  imagined  that  all  sorts  of  wicked  things  went  on, 
that  children  were  killed  and  eaten. 

The  Christians  thus  met   with  more  or  less  persecution 

from  which  many  would  dissent  in  part.     The  system  here  described 
was  not  developed  till  well  on  into  the  second  century  after  Christ.] 


CHRISTIAN    LAMP. 


CHRISTIANITY.  367 

from  the  first  to  the  fourth  century.  The  most  violent 
attacks,  however,  were  the  later  ones. 

After  the  burning  of  Rome  Nero  accused  the  Christians  of 
setting  fire  to  the  city.  No  evidence  was  found  against  them, 
but  many  were  condemned  to  death  as  '*  enemies  to  the 
human  race."  Some  of  these  were  sewed  up  in  the  skins  of 
wild  beasts  and  thrown  to  the  dogs,  who  devoured  them; 
others  were  crucified ;  others  were  covered  with  pitch  and, 
fastened  to  long  poles,  set  up  as  torches  to  burn  in  Nero's 
gardens  (64  a.  d.  ). 

Trajan  was  the  first  emperor  to  adopt  a  general  measure 
against  the  Christian  religion.  He  forbade  the  Christians  to 
meet  together  under  pain  of  death,  regarding  them  as  a 
dangerous  secret  society. 

The  younger  Pliny,  governor  of  Bithynia,  wrote  the 
emperor  that  a  number  of  Christians  had  beeri  brought  to 
him,  and  that  he  had  put  the  more  obstinate  of  them  to 
death;  he  asked  what  was  to  be  done  with  the  rest.  The 
following  report  was  the  result  of  his  investigation:  "  They 
affirmed  that  their  only  fault  was  that  they  met  on  certain 
days  before  sunrise,  worshipped  Christ  as  God,  sang  hymns 
in  his  praise,  and  bound  themselves  not  to  commit  crimes, 
but  to  refrain  from  robbery,  murder,  adultery,  and  false 
swearing;  that  after  this  they  were  in  the  habit  of  separat- 
ing, meeting  again  to  partake  of  food  together.  ...  I  felt 
it  necessary,"  Pliny  added,  "  to  seek  out  the  truth  by  sub- 
jecting to  torture  two  female  attendants,  whom  they  called 
deaconesses.  I  discovered  nothing  but  an  absurd  and 
exaggerated  superstition.  .  .  .  This  superstition  has  invaded 
not  only  the  cities,  but  the  towns  and  the  country  districts 
as  well." 

Trajan  replied:  "  It  is  not  at  all  necessary  to  search  out 
the  Christians.  If  after  they  are  denounced  they  still  hold  to 
their  faith,  they  must  be  punished.  But  if  any  declare  they 
are  not  Christians,  and  will  prove  it  by  offering  prayers  to 
our  gods,  they  shall  be  pardoned,  no  matter  what  they  may 


368  THE  ROMAN  PEOPLE, 

have  done  in  the  past.  As  for  anonymous  denunciations 
.  .  .  they  must  not  be  noticed,  for  they  set  a  detestable 
example  and  have  no  place  in  our  times." 

From  this  time  on  the  Christians  were  unceasingly  con- 
demned to  death,  especially  in  the  East.  The  magistrates 
were  in  most  cases  unwilling  to  begin  this  persecution,  but 
the  population  of  the  great  cities  often  demanded  it. 
Famines,  epidemics,  earthquakes,  were  all  accepted  as  a  sign 
that  the  gods  were  angered  by  the  impiety  of  the  Christians. 
The  famous  cry  was  now  heard  on  all  sides,  "  To  the  lions 
with  the  Christians!  "  and  the  people  forced  the  magistrates 
to  condemn  the  Christians  and  throw  them  to  the  beasts. 

The  Martyrs. — The  condemned  Christians  were  executed 
according  to  the  customs  of  the  time.  Roman  citizens  were 
beheaded;  the  rest  were  crucified,  burned,  or  thrown  to  the 
beasts  in  the  amphitheatre.  Sometimes  their  sufferings  were 
aggravated  by  tortures. 

In  177  A.D.  a  Christian  community,  composed  chiefly  of 
Asiatic  Greeks,  was  discovered  in  Gaul,  in  the  cities  of 
Lyons  and  Vienne.  These  Christians  were  arrested  and  led 
to  prison,  pelted  with  stones  by  a  jeering  mob.  The 
governor  had  them  appear  in  his  court  and  condemned  all 
self-avowed  Christians  for  atheism  and  sacrilege.  He  tor- 
tured them  to  make  them  confess  that  children  were  eaten 
at  their  meetings.  Blandina,  a  young  slave,  distinguished 
herself  by  her  courage.  Bruised  and  broken  by  torture,  she 
only  repeated,  "  I  am  a  Christian.  Nothing  evil  is  done  at 
our  meetings."  Sanctus,  a  deacon,  met  every  question 
with  the  words,  "  I  am  a  Christian."  Red-hot  iron  blades 
were  applied  to  their  bodies  to  make  them  speak,  but  they 
maintained  silence.  After  some  days  in  prison,  they  were 
again  subjected  to  torture. 

Pothinus,  the  bishop  of  Lyons,  aged  and  infirm,  was 
brought  before  the  tribunal  amid  a  jeering  rabble.  To  the 
governor's  question,  '*  Who  is  the  God  of  the  Christians  ?  " 
he  replied,  **  You  shall  know  if  you  are  worthy."     At  this 


CHRISTIANITY.  369 

the  mob  attacked  him  and  beat  him  so  violently  that  he  died 
shortly  after  in  prison. 

Many  of  those  condemned  were  delivered  to  the  wild 
beasts  in  the  amphitheatre  at  Lyons.  Sanctus  and  Maturus 
were  first  lashed  with  whips,  then,  on  the  demand  of  the 
people,  placed  in  the  red-hot  iron  chair.  The  odor  of 
burning  flesh  filled  the  auditorium,  but  being  still  alive  at 
the  close  of  the  entertainment,  they  were  struck  with  a 
sword.  Blandina,  meanwhile,  was  bound  to  a  post  with  her 
arms  crossed.  But  the  beasts  refused  to  harm  her  and  she 
was  led  back  to  prison. 

For  some  days  after  this  she  was  brought  out  into  the  arena 
to  watch  the  other  Christians  tortured  and  devoured.  Her 
turn  came  at  last.  She  was  placed  with  a  young  Christian 
boy  before  the  altar  to  sacrifice  to  the  gods.  She  refused 
and  was  then  whipped,  placed  on  the  red-hot  chair,  and 
finally  rolled  up  in  a  net  and  thrown  to  a  bull,  who  tossed 
her  in  the  air  on  his  horns.  In  the  end  the  executioner  had 
to  be  called  on. 

The  bleeding  bodies  of  the  martyrs  were  cut  in  pieces  and 
exposed  for  six  days,  with  a  guard  of  soldiers  to  keep  the 
Christians  from  burying  them.  The  remains  were  finally 
burned  and  thrown  into  the  Rhone,  where  all  trace  of  them 
was  lost. 

The  condemned  Christians  rejoiced  in  the  assurance  of 
ascending  into  heaven,  and  called  themselves,  not  victims, 
but  martyrs  (witnesses) ;  their  trial  was  a  martyrdom,  a  public 
acknowledgment  of  Christ.  They  compared  themselves  to 
athletes  struggling  for  the  prize,  which  was  the  martyr's 
palm  or  crown.  This  is  the  reason  why  the  saints'  days  are 
set,  not  for  the  anniversary  of  their  birth,  but  of  their  death. 

There  were  times  when  thousands  of  Christians  denounced 
themselves  and  demanded  condemnation,  in  order  to  win 
the  crown.  A  certain  governor  who  had  begun  to  persecute 
some  of  the  Christians  saw  all  the  Christians  of  the  city 
appear   at   his    tribunal    and    demand    prosecution.       He 


370  THE  ROMAN  PEOPLE. 

executed  a  number  of  them  and  then  said  to  the  rest:  "  Go 
away,  wretched  ones.  If  you  are  so  anxious  to  die,  are 
there  not  both  ropes  and  precipices  ? '' 

More  than  one  zealous  Christian,  hke  Polyeuctus,  won 
his  martyrdom  by  entering  a  temple  and  overturning  the 
statues  of  the  gods.  The  church  itself  discountenanced  this 
zeal,  however,  and  forbade  its  believers  to  seek  martyrdom. 

The  Catacombs. — The  Christians,  like  the  Jews,  buried 
the  bodies  of  their  dead  instead  of  burning  them.  They 
buried  all  together  as  brothers  equal  in  death.  The  bury- 
ing-ground  was  called  the  cemetery  (place  of  rest).  It  was, 
as  it  were,  the  family  tomb  of  the  Christian  community.  In 
the  large  cities,  where  land  was  very  expensive,  cemeteries 
were  built  underground.  At  Rome  the  spongy  rock  was 
pierced  by  innumerable  galleries,  leading  to  underground 
chambers;  the  coffins  were  placed  in  niches  in  the  walls. 
In  this  way  passages  were  dug  out  for  centuries,  going 
always  deeper  and  deeper,  until  there  were  five  rows  of 
galleries  one  under  another.  An  underground  city  of  tombs 
was  thus  formed,  which  was  later  called  the  Catacombs 
(region  of  tombs).  ^ 

These  cemeteries  w^ere  not  secret.  Many  had  been  begun 
as  the  private  tomb  of  a  wealthy  Christian  family,  >vho  per- 
mitted the  bodies  of  fellow  Christians  to  share  it  with  them. 
The  entrance  was  sometimes  on  the  public  street,  marked 
by  a  sort  of  chapel.  The  Romans  regarded  these  tombs  as 
sacred,  so  that  the  Christians  had  nothing  to  fear  for  then- 
cemeteries. 

Some  of  these  underground  chambers  were  decorated  with 
ornaments  and  paintings  representing  the  symbols  of  Chris- 
tianity. The  usual  signs  are  the  fish,  the  emblem  of  Christ; 
the  dove,  the  emblem  of  the  Holy  Spirit;  the  ship  and  the 

1  The  Catacombs  were  abandoned  in  the  middle  ages,  but  opened  up 
again  in  recent  years.  Numerous  articles  have  been  found  there,  includ- 
ing paintings  and  inscriptions,  which  have  constituted  a  special  science, 
Christian  Archaeology. 


CHRISTIANITY,  371 

anchor,  emblems  of  salvation;  the  lyre,  the  lamb,  and  the 
vine.     The    scenes    most   often    represented   are  the   Good 


THE   CATACOMB    OF    ST.    CALIXTUS. 


Shepherd  carrying  the  lost  sheep,  a  Christian  believer  with 
arms  outstretched  in  prayer,  and,  from  the  Old  Testament, 
Noah's  ark,  David  and  Goliath,  and  Daniel  in  the  lions' 


372  THE  ROMAN  PEOPLE. 

den.     The  figure  of  Christ  was  not  represented  in  the  earlier 
times. 


PAINTING    FROM    CEMETKRY    OK    SAINTS    KEKKUS    AND    AtHlLLEUS.       (KOLLEK.) 

The  bodies  of  the  holy  martyrs  were  buried  in  these 
underground  tombs,  and  visited  by  the  faithful  on  the  feast- 
days,  when  a  ceremony  was  celebrated  in  their  honor. 

It  is  said  that  during  the  persecutions  of  the  third  century 
the  Christians  sometimes  took  refuge  in  the  Catacombs, 
either  to  hold  their  services  or  to  escape  from  pursuit. 

PARALLEL  READING. 

Botsford c.  xi,  pp.  262-265. 

Bury Students'  Roman  Empire,  c.  xxx. 

Duruy c.  Ixxxvii. 

Fisher,  G.  P. . . .   History  of  the  Christian  Church. 

Hardy,  E.  G Christianity  and  the  Roman  Government. 

Hatch Organization  of  the  Early  Christian  Churches 

Gibbon cc.  xv,  xvi. 

Lanciani   Pagan  and  Christian  Rome. 

Lecky History  of  European  Morals,  cc.  ii,  iii . 

Milman History  of  Christianity. 

Moeller History  of  the  Christian  Church. 

Ramsay,  W.  M . .    The    Church    in    the  Rotnan   Empire  before 
170  A.D. 

Renan The  Influence  of  Rome  upon  ChristiaJtity. 

Uhlhorn,  .G Conflict  of  Christianity  with  Heathenism. 

The  Early  Persecutions  (Translations  and  Re- 
prints, Univ.. of  Penna.,  vol.  iv.  No.  i). 


CHAPTER    XXV. 
THE    DECLINE   OF   THE    EMPIRE. 

Praetorian  Supremacy. — Every  emperor  since  Nerva  had 
died  without  leaving  sons  and  had  appointed  a  successor. 
Marcus  Aurelius  left  a  son,  Commodus,  who  became 
emperor  at  the  age  of  nineteen.  He  was  a  handsome  young 
man,  but  vain,  weak,  and  cruel. 

At  the  age  of  twelve  he  was  so  enraged  at  finding  his  bath  not 
hot  enough  that  he  threw  his  bath-slave  into  the  oven. 

•  As  soon  as  he  became  emperor  (i8o  a.d.)  he  made  peace 
with  the  barbarians,  restored  their  fortresses,  and  returned 
to  Rome  to  amuse  himself  with  his  companions.  His 
favorite  pastime  was  to  play  the  gladiator  and  imitate 
Hercules.  He  fought  seven  hundred  and  fifty  combats  in 
the  public  arena,  but  ran  no  real  danger,  ior  his  opponent 
knew  his  part  beforehand.  He  also  took  part  in  the  hunts, 
and  slew  wild  animals  with  the  bow  or  spear.  One  day  he 
killed  one  hundred  bears,  another  day  he  decapitated 
ostriches.  The  senators  had  been  ordered  to  take  part  in 
the  spectacle,  and  filled  the  air  with  shouts  of :  "  You  are 
our  master!  You  are  the  first  among  us  all!  You  are  the 
happiest  of  men!  You  are  the  conqueror!  You  shall  be 
conqueror.!  In  the  memory  of  man  you  are  the  only  con- 
queror! "  His  nights  he  spent  drinking  with  actors, 
gladiators,  and  circus  drivers.  He  bathed  sometimes  eight 
times  a  day. 

Commodus  took  the  surname  of  Hercules,  and  posed  as 
Hercules,  with  a  lion's  skin  and  a  club. 

373 


374 


THE  ROMAN  PEOPLE. 


\/  Ke  gathered  together  the  infirm  and  crippled,  disguised  them 
as  monsters,  with  serpents  for  tails,  armed  them  with  sponges 
to  look  like  stones,  and  then  slew  them  with  arrows  with  per- 


COMMODUS  AS  HERCULES. 


feet  safety.  It  is  said  that  one  day  he  wanted  to  shoot  his 
arrows  at  the  spectators,  as  Hercules  had  destroyed  the  Stym- 
phalian  birds. 


THE  DECLINE  OF   THE  EMPIRE,  375 

An  attempt  was  made  against  his  life;  the  murderer  raised 
his  knife  with  the  words,  "  The  senate  sends  you  this 
dagger,"  but  was  disarmed.  Commodus  condemned  to 
death  many  of  the  senators  and  almost  all  the  friends  of 
Marcus  Aurelius. 

He  paid  no  attention  to  his  duties,  but  left  the  govern- 
ment to  his  praetorian  prefect,  and  squandered  the  contents 
of  the  treasury.  The  people  of  Rome  were  suffering  from 
pestilence,  fire,  and  famine  all  at  once,  and  grain  was  no 
longer  distributed.  A  mob  demanded  the  monster's  life,  and 
Commodus  was  strangled  by  order  of  his  wife  and  his  officers. 
His  statues  were  broken  by  the  populace  (192  a.d.). 

The  praetorian  guards  were  left  the  real  masters  of  Rome. 
Their  prefect  announced  to  them  that  Commodus  had  suc- 
cumbed to  a  fatal  malady;  no  one  dared  to  speak  to  them 
of  murder,  for  they  were  devoted  to  Commodus  on  account 
of  his  liberality  to  them. 

Pertinax. — The  prefect  presented  to  them  an  old  officer, 
Pertinax,  son  of  a  fieedman,  a  charcoal-burner  from  the 
Genoese  mountains,  who  had  acquired  wealth  and  a  pro- 
consulate. He  promised  them  a  present  and  they  proclaimed 
him  emperor, 

Pertinax  endeavored  to  govern  in  harmony  with  the 
senate.  He  put  a  stop  to  the  prosecutions  for  high  treason 
and  recalled  the  exiles.  He  sold  the  gladiatorial  costumes, 
and  the  slaves  and  other  objects  necessary  to  Commodus' 
ideas  of  luxury,  and  paid  the  praetorians  the  money  he  had 
promised  them. 

He  then  attempted  to  restore  the  praetorians  to  order. 
He  forbade  them  to  carry  arms  in  the  streets  of  Rome,  or  to 
injure  or  maltreat  passers-by.  He  said  to  them,  *'  Many 
disorders  have  come  upon  us  which,  with  your  help,  we 
intend  to  overcome." 

One  day  three  hundred  praetorians  armed  themselves  and, 
forming  a  battalion,  marched  from  their  camp  to  the  palace. 
Pertinax  addressed  them  in  the  hope  of  calming  them,  but 


376 


THE  ROMAN  PEOPLE. 


one  of  them  struck  him  with  a  spear,  and  the  rest  quickly 
put  an  end  to  him.  He  had  reigned  eighty-seven  days 
(193  A.D.). 


COIN   OF   PERTINAX, 


The  father-in-law  of  Pertinax  went  to  the  praetorian  camp 
to  secure  the  succession  for  himself.  But  Didius  Julianus, 
a  very  wealthy  senator,  climbed  the  wall  of  the  camp  and 
offered  a  higher  gratuity.  The  empire  was,  so  to  speak, 
put  up  at  auction. 

Didius  made  the  highest  bid  and  furthermore  promised  to 
restore  the  memory  of  Commodus.  The  soldiers  led  him 
down  into  their  camp  and  proclaimed  him  emperor.  They 
elected  their  own  prefects  and  presented  them  to  the  new 
emperor  for  appointment.  Then,  forming  in  military  order, 
they  conducted  their  emperor  to  the  senate  (193  a.d,). 

Severus. — As  after  the  death  of  Nero,  the  soldiers  on  the 
frontier  refused  to  submit  to  the  praetorians'  selection.  The 
three  great  armies  each  proclaimed  its  own  general  as 
emperor:  the  army  in  Britain,  Albinus;  the  army  in  Syria, 
Pescennius  Niger;  the  army  of  the  Danube,  Septimius 
Severus,  a  native  of  Africa. 

Severus  had  the  largest  army  (ten  legions)  and,  traversing 
two  hundred  and  sixty  miles  in  seven  weeks,  was  the  first  to 
arrive  in  Rome.  The  praetorians  dared  not  resist  him. 
Didius  was  now  deserted,  and  was  killed  by  order  of  the 
senate. 

Severus  speedily  overcame  and  killed  his  other  rivals. 


THE  DECLINE  OF  THE  EMPIRE.  377 

Commodus  had  left  a  large  personal  fortune,  the  accumu- 
lation of  all  the  Antonines.  This  Severus  appropriated  by 
declaring  himself  to  have  been  adopted  by  Marcus  Aurelius. 

Severus  was  a  hard  worker.  He  rose  at  daybreak  to  begin 
upon  his  duties,  and  later  went  out  to  walk,  intently  dis- 
cussing affairs  of  state.  He  took  his  seat  in  the  tribunal, 
but  rendered  no  judgment  without  consulting  his  advisers. 
At  noon  he  rode  out  on  his  horse,  then,  after  a  bath,  sat 
down  to  eat  his  midday  meal,  usually  alone  with  his 
children.  After  this  a  nap,  from  which  he  was  awakened  to 
walk  with  literary  men  who  talked  with  him  in  Greek  or 
Latin;  then  another  bath,  and  supper  with  his  friends.  He 
received  guests  only  on  feast-days. 

Severus  had  no  love  for  the  senate  and  left  it  little  power. 
His  great  object  was  to  retain  the  affection  of  his  soldiers; 
he  increased  their  pay  and  rations  and  gave  them  the  right 
to  wear  the  golden  ring,  an  honor  hitherto  reserved  to  the 
knights.  He  allowed  them  to  bring  their  wives  to  live  with 
them  in  camp. 

There  is  a  story  that  on  his  deathbed  he  said  to  his  two  sons, 
••  My  children,  enrich  the  soldier,  and  you  may  snap  your  fingers 
at  the  rest. " 

Like  Trajan  he  longed  to  conquer  Asia.  He  led  an 
expedition  against  the  Parthians,  crossed  the  Tigris,  took 
Ctesiphon  and  conquered  the  province  of  Mesopotamia. 
He  formed  three  new  legions  and  called  them  the  Parthians. 

He  led  his  two  sons  into  Britain  to  make  war  on  the 
Scotch  mountaineers.  Here  he  died  in  211  a.d.,  after  a 
stay  of  three  years  and  the  completion  of  a  wall  similar  to 
that  built  by  Hadrian.  His  last  words  were:  **  I  received 
the  state  in  disorder;  I  leave  it  in  peace,  even  in  Britain." 
He  then  gave  the  officers  the  watchword,  "  Work." 

Caracalla. — The  two  sons  of  Severus,  who  were  not  on 
friendly  terms  with  one  another,  were  declared  joint 
emperors.  Bassianus,  the  elder,  had  his  brother,  Geta, 
killed,  and  reigned   alone   (212  a.d.).      He  was  given   the 


378 


THE  ROMAN  PEOPLE, 


ROMAN  BRITAIN 

SCALE  OF  ENGLISH   MILES 

25  50  100 


itQHMAf  <c   Ca.,£.Nail'S,N.' 


THE  DECLINE  OF   THE  EMPIRE.  379 

name  of  Caracal  la  ^  (the  caracalla  was  a  sort  of  hooded  cloak 
which  he  distributed  among  the  inhabitants  of  Rome). 

Under-sized,  ugly,  and  gruff,  Caracalla  tried  to  pass  for  a 
man  of  fierce  temper.  He  was  fond  of  comparing  himself 
to  Sulla,  and  even  to  Hannibal,  his  compatriot  (Severus  was 
an  African  and  had  never  lost  his  Carthaginian  accent). 

A  noble  told  him  one  day  that  he  had  "  a  constant  air  of  irri- 
tation," Caracalla  was  so  pleased  that  he  gave  him  a  large  sum 
of  money. 

He  made  fierce  war  on  his  brother's  friends  and  servants, 
all  of  whom  he  put  to  death,  and  many  senators  and  magis- 
trates as  well.  The  best  known  of  these  was  the  praetorian 
prefect,  Papinian  the  jurisconsult,  whom  the  soldiers  were 
ordered  to  assassinate. 

The  emperor  had  asked  Papinian  to  deliver  a  discourse  in 
the  senate  excusing  the  murder  of  his  brother  Geta,  and  Papi- 
nian replied,  "  It  is  easier  to  commit  fratricide  than  to  excuse 
it." 

Caracalla  endeavored  to  please  the  soldiers  before  all  the 
rest  of  his  subjects.  He  permitted  them  to  leave  their  camps 
in  the  winter  and  quarter  themselves  on  the  inhabitants  of 
the  frontier  towns  and  there  amuse  themselves  as  their  fancy 
dictated.  He  said  to  them,  "  I  owe  my  position  to  you, 
and  what  is  mine  is  yours."  To  the  senators  he  said, 
*'  I  must  have  all  the  money,  that  I  may  give  it  to  the 
soldiers."  During  his  Syrian  campaign  he  wrote  to  the 
senate:  "  I  know  that  you  disapprove  of  what  I  am  doing, 
but  the  arms  and  the  soldiers  are  with  me,  and  I  only  laugh 
at  your  opinion." 

His  amusements  were  driving  chariots,  playing  the 
gladiator,  and  drinking  to  excess.  He  supplied  the  deficien- 
cies of  his  treasury  by  levying  new  taxes  and  debasing  the 
coinage. 

His  first  war  was  against  the  Germans  (213  a.d.).  During 
this  campaign  he  lived  among  his  soldiers,  had  them  call 
^  His  official  name  was  Marcus  Aurelius  Antoninus. 


38o 


THE  ROM^N  PEOPLE. 


him  ' '  comrade, ' '  made  his  own  bread,  ate  from  a  wooden 
bowl,  wore  a  soldier's  dress,  and  carried  his  own  arms  and 
even  the  standards,  for  he  loved  to  show  his  physical 
strength. 

He  next  directed  his  attention  to  Asia,  saying  that  the 


CARACALLA. 


spirit  of  Alexander  was  within  him  and  he  must  follow  in 
his  footsteps. 

He  went  to  Alexandria,  where  the  people  ridiculed  him 
and  made  him  angry.  When  the  leaders  of  the  city  came 
to  greet  him  he  invited  them  to  sit  down  at  his  table  and 
then  had  their  throats  cut.  He  turned  his  soldiers  loose  in 
the  city,  where  for  several  days  they  pillaged  and  massacred 
at  will.     Caracalla  wrote  to  the  senate:  "  It  matters  little 


THE  DECLINE  OF  THE  EMPIRE.  381 

what  number  or  what  quality  of  persons  perished,  their 
merits  were  the  same." 

He  attacked  the  Parthians  and  led  his  army  beyond  the 
Tigris.  Here  he  was  killed  by  his  praetorian  prefect  (217 
A.D.).  Macrinus,  the  murderer,  proclaimed  himself  emperor, 
made  peace  with  the  Parthians  and  led  the  army  back  into 
Syria. 

The  Syrian  Emperors. — Julia,  sumamed  Domna  (mis- 
tress), the  mother  of  Caracalla,  was  a  Syrian.  Her  sister, 
Julia  Maesa,  had  two  daughters,  Soaemias  and  Mammaea, 
both  of  whom  were  beautiful  and  clever.  They  had  acquired 
a  great  deal  of  money  and  took  advantage  of  the  soldiers' 
attachment  to  the  family  of  Severus  to  secure  the  empire  for 
their  children. 

Bassianus,  the  sixteen-year-old  son  of  Soaemias,  was  a 
priest  of  the  Sun-god  Elagabalus  in  a  Syrian  temple.  On 
its  return  from  the  Parthian  war  the  army  wintered  near  his 
temple.  The  princesses  made  an  agreement  with  the 
soldiers  whereby  they  brought  to  the  camp  one  night 
chariots  laden  with  gold,  and  the  young  priest  was  pro- 
claimed emperor.  Macrinus  was  overcome,  captured,  and 
killed  (218  A.D.). 

Elagabalus. — The  new  emperor  is  commonly  known  by 
the  name  of  his  god.  He  was  a  vain  and  ignorant  lad, 
whose  great  delight  was  to  dress  himself  in  women's  clothes 
and  paint  his  face  in  the  Oriental  fashion.  He  took  no 
interest  in  the  government,  and  employed  his  power  only 
for  amusement. 

His  grandmother,  Julia  Maesa,  called  the  senate  together 
and  assumed  control  of  affairs.  Rome  was  horrified  at 
seeing  a  woman,  and  a  Syrian,  preside  over  the  leaders  of 
the  empire. 

The  emperor  remained  a  priest  of  the  Sun-god,  and  kept 
the  title  appertaining  to  this  office  [Sacerdos  Dei  Solis).  He 
brought  to  Rome  the  black  stone  which  represented  the 
god,  built  a  temple  for  it  and  placed  the  precious  object 


382  THE  ROMAN  PEOPLE. 

there  himself.  He  placed  in  his  temple  the  statues  of  the 
Roman  gods  and  all  the  objects  sacred  to  Rome,  even  the 
palladium  guarded  by  the  Vestals,  which  the  Romans  con- 
sidered an  act  of  great  impiety.  He  committed  another  act 
of  impiety  by  marrying  a  Vestal. 

He  clothed  himself  entirely  in  silk,  hitherto  an  unheard-of 
luxury,  and  never  wore  a  garment  a  second  time.  He  had  his 
palace  walks  covered  with  powdered  gold,  and  his  bath  per- 
fumed with  rose-water  ;  he  slept  on  a  bed  of  flowers.  He  gave 
banquets  at  which  the  brains  of  rare  birds  were  served. 

He  is  said  to  have  given  a  mock  naval  battle  in  a  lake  of 
wine.  On  another  occasion  he  almost  suffocated  his  guests 
by' a  rain  of  roses  falling  from  the  ceiling. 

He  was  obliged  to  adopt  his  cousin,  Alexander,  son  of 
Julia  Mammaea,  his  junior  by  four  years.  He  attempted  to 
put  an  end  to  Alexander,  but  the  soldiers  prevented  him  and 
ordered  him  to -a-lter  his  conduct  and  dismiss  his  riotous 
companions.  They  finally  revolted,  massacred  Elagabalus, 
his  mother  and  his  friends,  and  proclaimed  his  cousin 
emperor  under  the  name  of  Severus  (222  a.d.  ). 

Alexander  Severus,  who  was  too  young  to  govern,  at 
first  left  the  government  to  his  mother,  Mammaea,  and  a 
council  of  senators.  Later  he  adopted  Marcus  Aurelius  as 
his  model  and  set  himself  to  govern  honestly.  He  had 
engraved  on  his  palace  this  maxim:  "  Do  unto  others  as 
you  would  that  they  should  do  to  you."  He  wrote  in  verse 
a  history  of  the  good  emperors.  He  had  a  sanctuary  in  his 
palace  to  which  he  went  to  pray  and  worship  the  gods;  here 
he  had  statues  placed  of  those  whom  he  called  the  benefac- 
tors of  the  human  race:  Abraham,  Orpheus,  Jesus  Christ, 
and  Apollo. 

His   soldiers  were  discontented   and   he  could   not  keep 
them  in  order.      At  Rome  the  praetorians  struggled  against 
the  people  for  three  days  and  ended  by  setting  fire  to  the 
houses.      In  another  riot  the  praetorians  killed  their  chief,  ' 
the  famous  Ulpian  (228  a.d.). 

The  empire  was  attacked  on  the  east  by  the  Parthians,  and 


THE  DECLINE   OF   THE  EMPIRE. 


383 


by  the  Germans  on  the  Rhine.  Alexander  hated  war,  and 
he  went  to  Mainz  to  offer  presents  to  the  German  chiefs  as 
an  inducement  towards  peace.  This  made  the  soldiers  angry 
and  they  assassinated  him  (235  a.d.). 


ALEXANDER   SEVERUS 


The  Jurisconsults. — The  most  famous  of  the  Roman 
jurisconsults  appeared  under  the  African  and  Syrian 
emperors.  For  a  long  time  there  had  been  men,  chiefly 
nobles,  at  Rome  who  devoted  themselves  to  the  study  of 
law,  and  it  was  a  long-standing  custom  to  consult  them  in 
doubtful  cases.  Their  answers  were  authoritative;  Augustus 
gave  them  the  force  of  low, 


384  THE  ROMAN  PEOPLE, 

The  emperor  had  to  decide  endless  questions  of  law.  He 
performed  the  duties  of  judge  in  his  court.  The  governors 
did  the  same  in  their  provincial  courts,  but  referred  doubtful 
cases  to  the  judgment  of  the  emperor;  the  emperor  replied 
with  a  rescript,  which  became  obligatory.  The  emperor  also 
issued  edicls,  or  ordinances.  In  all  this  work  he  was  assisted 
by  the  jurisconsults,  whom  he  appointed  members  of  his 
council.  The  more  celebrated  were  at  the  same  time 
praetorian  prefects,  and  empowered  to  pronounce  judgment 
in  the  emperor's  place.  These  were  Papinian,  prefect  under 
Caracalla,  and  Ulpian,  under  Alexander  Severus,  both  of 
them  Syrians.  There  were  at  the  same  time  other  famous 
jurisconsults,  all  of  whom  were  Orientals;  they  wrote, 
however,  in  Latin,  and  their  works  formed  the  greater  part 
of  Roman  law. 

These  jurisconsults,  imbued  with  Greek  philosophy, 
labored  to  lessen  the  severity  of  ancient  law.  The  old 
Romans,  who  were  very  hard  on  the  weak,  gave  the  father 
of  the  family  absolute  power  over  his  wife,  children,  and 
slaves,  the  right  to  kill  them,  seize  their  property,  or 
abandon  them.  The  jurisconsults  upheld  very  different 
principles,  much  like  those  of  the  Stoics. 

"  By  the  laws  of  nature  all  men  are  born  free."  They 
decided  that  the  slave  was  entitled  to  justice,  and  that  his 
master  should  be  responsible  for  his  life.  They  deprived 
the  father  of  the  right  to  disinherit  his  child. 

This  new  code,  later  called  "  written  reason, "  was  adopted 
by  all  the  Western  peoples;  a  great  part  of  it  is  still  pre- 
served in  French  law. 

Edict  of  212  A.D. — A  great  change  now  took  place.  The 
inhabitants  of  the  empire  were  divided  in  two  categories, 
citizens  and  foreigners.  The  emperors  had  little  by  little 
given  the  right  of  citizenship  to  many  families  and  even  to 
entire  countries,  but  a  large  number  of  provincials  were  still 
foreigners,  having  neither  the  same  rights  nor  the  samcj 
burdens  as  citizens. 


THE  DECLINE  OF  THE  EMPIRE.  3^5 

In  2  12  A.D.  Caracalla,  being  in  need  of  money,  wiped 
out  this  old  distinction  by  declaring  all  free  men  in  the 
empire  to  be  Roman  citizens.  This  was  merely  a  means  of 
increasing  the  taxes,  as  the  new  citizens  were  subject  to  both 
the  foreigner's  and  citizen's  tax.  The  measure  did  succeed, 
however,  in  assimilating  the  legal  position  of  all  the  inhab- 
itants of  the  empire.  Henceforth  there  was  no  difference 
between  Italians  and  provincials,  and  all  were  called 
Romans. 

Military  Anarchy. — After  the  death  of  Alexander  Severus 
(235  A.D.)  the  Roman  armies  struggled  against  one  another, 
each  trying  to  make  its  own  general  emperor.  The  emperors 
spent  their  time  opposing  rival  candidates,  and  were  every 
one  assassinated  or  executed.  This  period  of  confusion  is 
called  the  military  anarchy. 

Maximinus,  the  first  of  these  emperors,  was  a  Thracian 
shepherd,  a  man  of  gigantic  height  and  Herculean  strength ; 
he  could  eat  thirty  pounds  of  meat  and  drink  twenty  quarts 
of  wine  a  day,  draw  a  loaded  chariot,  break  stones,  and 
break  a  horse's  teeth  with  his  fist. 

The  soldiers,  after  assassinating  Alexander,  proclaimed  as 
emperor  Maximinus,  who  was  at  the  time  an  officer.  He 
led  them  against  the  Germans  and  fought  in  person  among 
the  forests  and  marshes.  He  then  remained  with  his  soldiers 
on  the  Danubian  frontier. 

He  condemned  a  large  number  of  nobles  to  exile  or  death, 
friends  of  Alexander  Severus  in  particular,  and  confiscated 
their  goods.  To  pay  his  soldiers  he  melted  down  the  statues 
of  the  gods,  and  appropriated  the  money  from  the  public 
shows  and  distributions.  The  senate  and  the  inhabitants  of 
Rome  detested  him,  and  called  him  Cyclops,  Typhon,  and 
Phalaris.  Maximinus  was  fully  aware  of  their  scorn  and 
hatred  and  kept  away  from  the  city,  allowing  none  of  the 
nobles  to  approach  him. 

In  Africa  a  troop  of  rebellious  peasants  killed  the  pro- 
curator fiscal  and,   much   against  his  will,   proclaimed  as 


3^6  THE  ROMAN  PEOPLE, 

emperor  Gordian,  the  governor  of  the  province,  a  man  of 
eighty.  The  senate  and  the  praetorians  elected  Gordian  and 
his  son  emperors  (238  a.d.),  out  of  hatred  for  Maximinus. 
Both  were  quickly  overcome  and  killed  in  Africa.  But  the 
senate  elected  two  new  emperors,  a  general  named  Pupienus 
and  a  senator  named  Balbinus.  The  praetorians  added  a 
child,  the  young  Gordian,  for  a  third  emperor. 

Maximinus  marched  on  Italy  with  the  army  of  the  Danube, 
leaving  a  trail  of  massacre  and  pillage  behind  him.  Pupienus 
gathered  recruits,  sent  for  the  army  of  the  Rhine  and  waited 
at  Ravenna.  Maximinus  stopped  to  besiege  Aquileia,  but 
the  inhabitants  held  out  bravely  against  the  assault  of  the 
semi-barbaric  army.  Maximinus'  soldiers  began  to  run 
short  of  provisions,  and  they  put  an  end  to  their  em- 
peror. 

Some  time  later  the  praetorians  surprised  Balbinus  and 
Pupienus  in  the  palace,  dragged  them  through  the  streets, 
with  shouts  of,  "  Here  are  the  senate's  emperors!  "  and 
then  massacred  them  (238  a.d  ). 

Only  the  child  emperor,  Gordian,  was  now  left,  in  whose 
name  his  stepfather  governed  from  238  to  244  a.d.  While 
he  was  engaged  in  fighting  the  Parthians,  the  army  of  Syria 
assassinated  him  and  proclaimed  in  his  place  Philip,  an 
Arab,  formerly  a  brigand  chief  but  now  an  officer  in  the 
Roman  army  (244-248  a.d.). 

The  army  of  the  Danube  revolted,  and  Philip  sent  to 
appease  them  Decius,  who  claimed  descent  from  Trajan. 
The  army  proclaimed  Decius  emperor  and  marched  on  Italy. 
Philip  was  defeated  and  killed.  Decius  lost  his  life  two 
years  later  in  a  battle  with  the  barbarians,  who  had  invaded 
the  empire  (251  a.d  ). 

The  son  of  Decius,  still  a  child,  became  joint  emperor 
with  Gallus,  the  general  of  the  army.  Gallus  shortly  had 
his  colleague  killed.  Another  general,  ^milianus,  then  put 
down  Gallus  and  was  in  his  turn  slain  by  his  soldiers. 

Valerian,  an  old  and  wealthy  senator,  secured  the  succes- 


THE  DECLINE  OF  THE  EMPIRE.  3^7 

sion  to  himself  and  his  son  Gallienus,  and  governed  for  some 
years  (251-260  a.d.).      He  was  captured  by  the  Parthians. 

Gallienus,  left  alone,  thought  of  nothing  but  his  own 
amusement.  Immediately  new  emperors  were  proclaimed 
by  the  armies  on  all  sides.  Counting  their  sons  there  were 
thirty  in  all,  the  so-called  "thirty  tyrants."  Each  was 
recognized  only  in  a  small  corner  of  the  empire  and  for  a 
very  few  years.  The  most  powerful  of  them  were  the 
emperors  of  Gaul,  especially  Postumus,  who  reigned  nearly 
ten  years,  and  Odenathus,  the  king  of  Palmyra  and  con- 
queror of  the  Parthians. 

Barbarian  Invasions. — As  soon  as  the  frontier  armies 
abandoned  their  duties  to  fight  among  themselves,  the  bar- 
barians began  to  attack  the  empire  from  three  sides. 

The  Parthians  took  Mesopotamia  and  advanced  as  far  as 
the  Euphrates. 

King  Sapor  then  entered  Cappadocia  and  ravaged  the 
country.  The  emperor  Valerian  came  to  drive  him  back, 
but  was  defeated  near  Odessa  and  taken  by  the  Parthians 
(260  A.D.).      He  died  in  captivity. 

Sapor  is  credited  with  using  the  captive  emperor  as  a  mount- 
ing-block. When  Valerian  died,  his  skin  was  dressed  and 
painted  red  and  hung  in  the  audience-chamber  of  the  Parthian 
king. 

The  Parthians  invaded  Syria,  surprised  the  city  of  Antioch 
and  pillaged  it.  They  also  sacked  the  cities  of  Cilicia  and 
Cappadocia  and  led  the  inhabitants  captives. 

There  is  a  story  that  they  even  filled  a  ravine  with  the  bodies 
of  captives  to  facilitate  crossing. 

There  was  no  longer  an  emperor  in  the  East.  A  native 
prince  drove  out  the  invaders.  In  an  oasis  in  the  desert, 
between  Syria  and  the  Euphrates,  a  great  city  had  been 
founded.  Palmyra,  the  halting-place  for  the  caravans  carry- 
ing merchandise  from  Babylon  to  Syria.  Enriched  by 
commerce,  the  people  of  Palmyra  had  built  great  monuments 
(temples,  porticoes,  tombs),  whose  ruins  are  still  standing  in 


388 


THE  ROMAN  PEOPLE. 


the  desert,  and  underground  water-conduits  for  irrigating 
the  land.  Palmyra  was  a  dependency  of  the  Roman  empire, 
but  preserved  its  Syriac  tongue  and  its  government. 
Odenathus,  the  prince  of  Palmyra,  drove  out  the  Parthians 
and  pursued  them  into  their  own  kingdom,  delivering  the 
besieged  cities  on  his  way,  and  pressing  his  victory  as  far  as 


SAPOR'S  CAPTURE   OF   VALERIAN. 


Ctesiphon.  He  remained  a  subject  of  the  empire,  with  the 
title  of  General  of  the  East. 

A  change  had  also  taken  place  among  the  Germans  in  the 
region  of  the  Rhine.  The  old-established  peoples,  lovers 
of  peace,  had  given  place  to  confederations  of  smaller 
tribes,  who  were  ever  ready  for  war. 

The  Alemanni  were  the  first  to  invade  the  empire  (213 
A.D.).  Caracalla  drove  them  back,  Alexander  Severus 
bought  peace  of  them  (235  a. d.),  and  Maximinus  pursued 
them  to  their  forests  (236  a.d.),  after  which  nothing  was 
seen  of  them  for  some  time. 


We  decline  of  the  empire.  389 

The  Franks  were  the  next  to  invade  the  empire.  In 
241  A.D.  a  band  of  them  was  slaughtered  or  captured  near 
Mainz. 

The  Roman  soldiers,  it  is  said,  danced  with  joy  over  their 
victory  and  sang:  *'  We  have  killed  a  thousand  Sarmatians  and 
a  thousand  Franks.     Now  we  want  a  thousand  Persians." 

While  the  Roman  army  under  Postumus  was  besieging 
the  army  of  Gallienus  in  Cologne,  the  Franks  crossed  the 
Rhine,  and  ravaged  their  way  through  Gaul  to  Spain.  Some 
of  them  even  sailed  over  to  Africa. 

The  Alemanni  occupied  the  whole  left  bank  of  the  Rhine, 
then  invaded  Italy  from  the  north,  ravaging  and  destroying 
a  number  of  cities. 

After  sixty  years  of  peace  on  the  Danube,  the  barbarian 
invasions  began.  There  also  appeared  a  new  German 
people,  the  Goths,  from  the  country  of  the  Vistula;  they 
settled  on  the  coast  of  the  Black  Sea,  near  the  mouth  of  the 
Danube. 

The  Goths  crossed  the  Danube  and  invaded  the  empire. 
They  ravaged  Mcesia  and  Thrace,  besieged  Thessalonica, 
took  Philippopolis,  and  returned  with  a  hundred  thousand 
captives.  The  emperor  Decius  attacked  them  as  they  were 
crossing  the  Danube,  and  was  himself  killed.  His  successor 
purchased  a  peace  (251  a.d.). 

The  empire  lost  all  its  possessions  north  of  the  Danube. 

The  Goths  fitted  out  ships  with  crews  of  Roman  prisoners, 
and  ravaged  the  coasts  of  the  Roman  provinces  on  the  Black 
Sea,  and  even  the  ^gaean  archipelago.  They  pillaged 
Trebizond,  Bithynia,  Asia  Minor,  the  islands,  and  even 
Greece:  Athens,  Corinth,  Argos. 

Thus  the  interior  of  the  empire,  after  three  centuries  of 
peace,  was  devastated  by  bands  of  plunderers  against  which 
the  frontier  armies  were  now  powerless.  The  inhabitants 
of  Gaul,  Spain,  Italy,  and  Asia  built  great  walls  around 
their  cities.  Athens  restored  her  fortifications,  which  had 
been  left  untouched  since  the  siege  of  Sulla. 


390  THE  ROMAN  PEOPLE. 

Illyrian  Emperors. — The  Illyrian  army  of  the  Danube 
having  now  become  the  most  important,  the  emperors  were 
for  some  time  chosen  from  its  numbers.  Claudius  repulsed 
the  Goths.  Aurelian  (270-275  a. d.)  vanquished  the  Ale- 
manni,  took  Zenobia,  queen  of  Palmyra,  and  led  her  in 
triumphal  procession  at  Rome,  subdued  Tetricus,  the  Gallic 
pretender,  restored  order  in  the  empire,  and  surrounded 
Rome  with  a  new  wall. 

Tacitus,  Probus,  and  Cams  treated  the  senate  with 
respect,  and  a  revival  of  better  times  seemed  to  be  in  store. 
But  the  old  dual  government  of  emperor  and  senate  had 
become  an  impossible  anachronism.  The  tendency  of  the 
time  was  towards  absolutism,  and  the  need  was  for  a  man  of 
iron  will  and  energy  to  assert  himself  and  become  the 
responsible  organizer  of  despotism.  Such  a  man  was  in 
readiness. 

These  Illyrian  emperors,  originally  peasants  and  soldiers, 
retained  their  simple  habits,  like  the  ancient  Roman 
generals.  The  following  story  is  told  either  of  Carus  or 
Probus,  it  is  not  definitely  known  which. 

Envoys  arrived  from  the  king  of  the  Parthian s  and  asked  to 
see  the  king.  They  were  brought  before  an  old  man  sitting  on 
the  ground  wrapped  in  a  shabby  cloak,  and  eating  salt  pork  and 
peas.  This  was  tlie  emperor,  who  told  them  that  he  was  going 
to  make  their  country  as  bare  as  his  head,  and  removed  his  cap 
to  show  them  a  bald  crown.  He  added:  "If  you  are  hungry, 
help  yourselves;  if  not,  begone." 

The   Empire   Reorganized   by  Diocletian. — Diocletian, 

son  of  a  slave  mother,  aided  by  a  comrade  named  Maximian 
whom  he  made  his  colleague  {2^6  a.d.),  completed  the 
restoration  of  order  in  the  empire. 

The  peasants  in  Gaul  had  rebelled  against  the  tax-col- 
lectors, and,  organizing  themselves  into  an  army,  had 
entrenched  themselves  near  the  junction  of  the  Marne  and 
the  Seine.  Maximian  exterminated  them  (285  a.d.),  then 
repulsed  the  Alernanni. 


THE  DECLINE  OF  THE  EMPIRE, 


391 


Diocletian  made  war  on  the  Parthians,  conquered  them, 
and  forced  them  to  make  peace  and  give  up  Mesopotamia. 

To  facilitate  the  process  of  government,  Diocletian  trans- 
formed the  organization  of  the  empire: 

I.  He  did  not  wish  to  be  sole  emperor  any  longer;  he 
established  two  chief  magistrates  with  the  title  of  Augustus 
(Diocletian  and  Maximian),  and  under  them  two  with  the 
title  of  Caesar;  all  four  were  Illyrians.  When  an  Augustus 
died,  one  of  the  Caesars  was  to  take  his  place,  so  that  the 
office  of  emperor  was  never  vacant.  The  emperors  were  no 
longer  elected  but  chosen  by  their  predecessor,  and  so  were 
independent  of  the  senate  and  the  army. 

II.  For  the  defence  of  so  vast  a  territory  the  emperors 
divided  the  government:  Diocletian  established  himself  in 
the  East,  at  Nicomedia;  subject  to  his  orders,  Galerius  took 
charge  of  Illyria.  Maximian  went  to  Milan,  in  the  West, 
leaving  to  Constantius  Chlorus  the  government  of  Gaul, 
Britain,  and  Spain. 

III.  The  ancient  provinces  seemed  too  large  for  a  single 
government.     Already  a  number  of  them  had  been  cut  in 


CHARIOT    OF    THE    FKEKKCT    OK    THE    CITV . 


two.  Diocletian  divided  the  rest,  making  ninety-six,  where 
there  had  been  fifty-seven.  The  governors  no  longer  had 
an  army  to  command. 

IV.   The  affairs  of  Italy  were  administered  by  the  prefect 
of  the  city,  those  of  Rome  by  the  senate.     Diocletian  ended 


39^  THE  ROMAN  PEOPLE. 

by  depriving  the  senate  of  its  power  and  Italy  of  its  privi- 
leges. The  latter  divided  into  provinces  and  made  their 
taxes  the  same  as  the  rest  of  the  empire. 

V.  Diocletian  took  the  title  of  *Mord"  {dominus),  and 
began  to  wear  a  diadem,  like  the  Oriental  kings. 

When  the  new  government  was  completely  organized, 
Diocletian,  after  he  had  reigned  twenty  years,  abdicated  and 
made  Maximian  abdicate  also.  He  left  the  power  to  the 
two  Caisars,  who  succeeded  to  the  title  of  Augustus  and 
appointed  two  new  Caesars  (305  a.d.).  He  retired  to  a 
country-seat  at  Salona,  on  the  shore  of  the  Adriatic,  and 
built  himself  an  enormous  fortress-like  palace,  with  a  hunt- 
ing-park. 1 

The  following  story  is  told  of  Diocletian  :  After  his  retire- 
ment he  became  absorbed  in  the  cultivation  of  vegetables,  and 
on  being  urged  by  Maximian,  one  day,  to  take  the  leadership  of 
the  empire  again,  he  replied,  "  If  you  could  see  the  vegetables 
I  raise  in  my  garden  you  would  not  ask  me  to  return  to  that 
life  of  care." 

SOURCE. 
Eutropius, Bk.  viii,  §  15-Bk.  ix. 

PARALLEL   READING. 

Duruy ...   cc.  Ixxxviii-c. 

Gibbon cc.  iv-xiii. 

Botsford c.  xii. 

Morey cc.  xxvii-xxviii,  §  i. 

Myers cc.  xvii,  xviii. 

Pelham Bk.  vi,  c.  ii-Bk.  vii,  c.  i,  p.  560. 

Abbott cc.  xvi-xxi. 

Freeman Historical  Essays  (Third  Series) ;   The  Jllyrian 

Emperors. 

Mommsen The  Provi7ices,  from  CcBsar  to  Diocletian. 

The  best  life  of  Diocletian  is  that  by  Th.  Preuss,  in  German 
{Leipzig,  1869). 

1  The  city  built  on  the  ruins  of  this  palace  is  called  by  its  name  (Spa- 
latro,  the  palace). 


CHAPTER    XXVI. 
CONSTANTINE   AND   THE   CHRISTIAN    RELIGION. 

Worship  of  Mithra. — During  the  third  century  the  pagan 
religions  had  become  blended.  The  ancient  Greek  and 
Roman  gods  were  worshipped  in  company  with  the  Egyptian 
gods  Isis  and  Osiris,  the  great  goddess  of  Phrygia,  the  Baals 
of  Syria,  which  were  confounded  with  Jupiter,  and,  in  par- 
ticular, the  Persian  god  ]\Iithra,  the  invincible  sun. 

The  Sun-god  was  the  chief  idol  of  the  soluiers  in  the  third 
century.  Aurelian  made  him  a  deity  of  the  whole  empire, 
and  built  him  a  magnificent  temple  at  Rome. 

Struggle  of  the  Emperors  against  the  Christians. — 
During  the  third  century  the  Christians  gained  steadily  in 
numbers,  especially  in  the  East,  and  not  only  among  the 
poor,  but  in  all  classes. 

In  the  second  century  the  emperor  had  attempted  to  crush 
out  the  new  religion,  but  the  third  century  witnessed  far 
more  violent  persecution. 

Decius  issued  an  edict  in  250  a.d.,  whereby  he  com- 
manded the  governors  to  summon  all  the  Christians  and 
compel  them  to  perform  the  Roman  ceremony  of  offering 
incense  on  the  altar  of  a  god  in  honor  of  the  emperor. 
Those  who  refused  compliance  were  thrown  into  prison  and 
tortured  with  hunger  and  thirst.  The  heads  of  the  church 
Decius  condemned  to  execution,  and  several  of  the  bishops 
suffered  martyrdom  in  consequence.  A  number  of  Christians 
obeyed  the  emperor  and  renounced  their  faith,  while  others 
paid  enormous  sums  of  money  in  bribes  to  secure  certificates 
of  having  complied. 

393 


394  THE  ROMAN  PEOPLE. 

This  persecution  was  brought  to  an  end  by  the  death  of 
Decius  in  251  a.d.,  only  to  be  renewed  by  Valerian.  An 
edict  of  258  A.D.  ordered  that  all  bishops,  priests,  and 
deacons  should  be  beheaded,  the  Christian  women  exiled, 
and  the  men  sent  to  labor  in  chains  on  the  imperial  estates. 
Sixtus,  the  bishop  of  Rome,  was  captured  in  the  Catacombs 
and  executed  there,  while  his  deacon,  Laurentius,  was 
burned  to  death. 

The  Christians  were  now  left  undisturbed  for  nearly  forty 
years.  Aurelian  died  just  as  he  had  made  up  his  mind  to 
persecute  them.  Under  Diocletian  there  were  Christians  in 
the  army  and  about  the  court,  and  even  Christian  governors, 
all  of  whom  practised  their  religion  openly. 

Some  of  the  Christians,  in  Africa  particularly,  thought  it 
a  sin  to  serve  in  a  pagan  army.  A  centurion  named 
Marcellus  threw  down  his  arms,  his  sword-belt,  and  staff  of 
command  with  these  words:  *'  I  will  not  serve  your  emperors; 
I  despise  their  gods  of  wood  and  stone."  He  was  put  to 
death. 

Diocletian  commanded  all  the  soldiers  to  sacrifice  to  the 
gods,  whereupon  many  Christian  soldiers  left  the  army.  He 
finally  issued  a  number  of  edicts  ordering  all  Christian 
churches,  cemeteries,  and  books  to  be  destroyed.  Christian 
employees  discharged,  and  the  clergy  arrested  and  forced  to 
sacrifice  to  the  gods.  The  first  edict  posted  was  destroyed 
by  a  Christian,  immediately  after  which  the  palace  twice 
narrowly  escaped  burning.  The  Christians  were  accused  of 
setting  fire  to  the  palace,  and  the  emperor  in  his  anger 
beheaded  the  bishop  of  Nicomedia. 

All  Christians  were  now  summoned  to  sacrifice  to  the 
gods.  If  any  refused,  they  were  tortured  to  make  them  offer 
incense  or  pour  a  libation.      Some  died,  but  many  yielded. 

Finally,  in  304  a.d.,  an  edict  ordered  all  Christians  to 
come  to  the  sacrifices,  with  the  alternative  of  death. 

Constantius,  the  Caesar  in  the  West,  was  friendly  to  the 
Christians  and  neglected  to  enforce  the  edicts.     But  in  the 


CONSTANTINE  AND    THE   CHRISTIAN  RELIGION.     395 

east  Galerius,  first  as  Caesar  and  later  as  Augustus,  was  the 
most  vigorous  enemy  the  church  had  to  face.  In  Palestine 
alone  nine  bishops  and  eighty  other  Christians  were  put  to 
death.  IVIany  voluntary  martyrs  offered  themselves,  but  they 
were  not  all  killed,  some  being  sent  to  work  in  the  mines, 
often  with  an  eye  dug  out  or  a  sinew  of  the  foot  seared. 

At  length  Galerius,  feeling  the  approach  of  death,  gave 
up  the  struggle  and  in  311  a.d.  published  an  edict  of  tolera- 
tion. "  For  the  common  welfare  of  our  subjects  and  the 
preservation  of  the  empire  we  have  decided,''  he  said,  "  to 
restore  the  discipline  of  our  ancestors.  We  hoped  to  lead 
back  to  better  sentiments  the  Christians  who  have  had  the 
temerity  to  oppose  themselves  to  established  practices." 
But,  as  they  "persisted  in  their  folly,"  he  granted  them 
permission  to  celebrate  their  religion  and  hold  their  meet- 
ings, asking  them  in  return  to  intercede  with  their  God  in 
behalf  of  the  emperor. 

This  was  the  end  of  the  last  great  period  of  persecution. 

Constantius.— When  Diocletian  abdicated,  he  had  left 
the  power  to  two  Augusti,  Galerius  in  the  East  and  Con- 
stantius in  the  West,  aided  by  tw«)  Caesars,  Severus  in  Italy 
and  Maximinus  Daza  in  the  East.  All  four  were  Illyrians 
and  formerly  officers  in  the  army.  But  this  system,  organ- 
ized by  Diocletian,  did  not  endure. 

Constantius  (surnamed  Chlorus,  the  yellow,  on  account 
of  his  complexion)  soon  found  himself  afflicted  with  a  fatal 
disease.  His  son  Constantine  joined  his  father  at  Boulogne 
and  accompanied  him  to  Britain.  Constantius  died  at 
Eboracum  (York)  in  306  a.d.,  and  his  soldiers  proclaimed 
Constantine  Augustus  in  spite  of  the  rule  established  by 
Diocletian.  Rather  than  risk  a  war,  Galerius  agreed  to 
recognize  Constantine  as  emperor,  but  with  the  inferior  title 
of  Caesar.  Severus  was  accordingly  promoted  from  Caesar 
to  Augustus.       • 

All  Rome,  people,  senate,  and  praetorians,  were  discon- 
tented with  having  no  resident  emperor.      When  Galerius 


39^  THE  ROMAN  PEOPLE. 

sent  orders  to  have  a  new  valuation  of  property  made,  the 
people  rebelled   and   killed   the  prefect   of  the    city.     The 


CONSTANTINE. 


praetorians  proclaimed  a  new  emperor,  Maximian,  formerly 
Augustus  with  Diocletian,  who  issued  from  retirement  to 
become  emperor  once  more  (306  a.d.). 


CONSTANTINE  AND   THE  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION.     397 

Now  began  the  wars  between  the  emperors,  of  which 
there  were  five  in  sixteen  years. 

I.  Severus  entered  Italy  to  attack  Maxentius  and  Maximian. 
Abandoned  by  his  army,  he  surrendered  himself  and  was 
taken  to  Rome  and  put  to  death. 

Galerius  appointed  m  his  place  Licinius,  an  Illyrian,  the 
son  of  a  peasant,  and  gave  him  the  title  of  Augustus.  The 
other  emperors  were  no  longer  content  with  the  title  of 
Caesar  and  called  themselves  Augustus  also,  making  in  al) 
six  Augusti,  Galerius,  Licinius,  Constantme,  Maximinus 
Daza,  Maxentius,  and  Maximian  {'^oj  a  d.). 

Maximian  was  forced  to  abdicate,  and  died  soon  after. 

While  Constantine  v/as  making  war  in  the  neighborhood 
of  the  Rhine  and  driving  the  Franks  out  of  Gaul,  Maxentius 
in  Rome  made  himself  unpopular  with  the  people  by 
quarrelling  with  Constantine.  Constantine  crossed  the  Alps 
with  his  army,  descended  into  Italy  and  arrived  before 
Rome.  Maxentius  led  his  army  across  the  Tiber  on  a 
bridge  of  boats  beside  the  Milvian  bridge,  and  a  battle  was 
fought  in  the  plain  on  the  right  bank  of  the  Tiber.  The 
army  of  Maxentius  broke  ranks,  and  the  praetorians  were 
fighting  alone  when  they  were  routed  by  a  charge  of  Gallic 
cavalry  and  fled  towards  the  Milvian  bridge.  The  bridge 
gave  way  and  Maxentius  was  drowned  (312  a.d.). 

Constantine  entered  Rome  in  triumph,  dismissed  the 
praetorians,  demolished  the  fortifications  around  their  camp, 
and  executed  all  friends  of  Maxentius.  He  promised  to 
consult  the  senate,  and  instituted  public  games  to  celebrate 
his  victory.  The  senate  decided  to  erect  a  triumphal  arch 
in  his  honor.  He  went  to  Milan  to  see  his  colleague 
Licinius,  and  gave  him  his  daughter  in  marriage. 

Licinius  had  allied  himself  with  Constantine  against 
Maximinus  Daza,  the  other  eastern  emperor  and  the  ally 
of  Maxentius.  Daza  protected  the  priests  and  magicians 
and  persecuted  the  Christians.  He  entered  Europe  with  an 
army  and  marched  against  Licinius.      He  was  defeated  at 


398 


THE  ROMAN  PEOPLE. 


Adrianople;  he  fled  and  was  killed  (313  a.d.).  His  wife, 
son,  and  daughter  were  massacred ;  then  the  son  of  Galerius, 
the  son  of  Severus,  and  the  wife  and  daughter  of  Diocletian. 
Only  two  emperors  now  remained,  Constantine  in  the  west 
and  Licinius  in  the  east  (313  a.d  ). 

Trouble    soon    arose   between  these  two.     Crossing   the 


AKCH    OF    CONSTANTINE. 


Alps,  Constantine  defeated  Licinius  in  two  battles  and  forced 
him  to  give  up  all  his  European  provinces  (314  a.d.). 

After  some  years  of  peace  Constantine  again  led  his  army 
eastward.  Licinius,  defeated  at  Adrianople  and  then  in 
Asia  (323  A.D.),  surrendered  himself  to  Constantine.  His 
victorious  rival  promised  to  spare  his  life,  but  sent  him  to 
Thessalonica  and  had  him  put  to  death.  Constantine  now 
reigned  alone  over  the  empire  (324  a.d.). 

The  Edict  of  Milan. — Constantine's  mother,  Helena,  was 
a  Christian.      He  himself,  like  his  father,  willingly  granted 


CONSTANTINE  AND   THE  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION.    399 


toleration  to  Christianity  without  being  a  Christian.  His 
enemies,  Maxentius  and  Daza,  were  supported  by  the 
adherents  of  the  ancient  Roman  religion,  while  he,  on  his 
part,  was  supported  by  the  Christians. 

Eusebius,  the  Christian  historian,  tells  the  following  story 
of  Constantine : 

The  night  before  the  battle  of  the  Milvian  bridge,  in  which 
Maxentius  lost  his  life,  Constantine  saw  in  the  sky,  over  the 
setting  sun,  a  shining  cross  with  the  inscription,  "  By  this  sign 
thou  shalt  conquer."  in  the  night  Christ  appeared  to  him, 
showed  him  the  same  sign  and  ordered  him  to  place  it  on  his 
standard.  In  gratitude  for  his  victory,  Constantine  obeyed 
Christ,  to  whom  he  owed  it ;  he  had  a  standard  made  in  the 
form  of  a  cross  with  the  initial  letters  of  the  name  of  Christ. 

According  to  another  Christian  writer  Constantine,  in  obedi- 
ence to  a  dream,  had  the  sacred  monogram  placed  on  every 
soldier's  shield. 

It  is  an  actual  fact  that  later  Constantine  wore  a  cross  on 
his  helmet  and  that  his  army  had  a  standard,  known  as  the 
labarum,  formed  by  a  straight  pike  inter- 
sected by  a  transverse  beam.  This  beam 
was  draped  with  a  purple  veil  embroidered 
in    gold,   to    represent    the  image  of   the  ^ 


emperor.  The  whole  was  surmounted  by 
a  golden  crown  encircling  the  initial 
letter  of  the  name  of  Christ.  The  soldiers 
regarded  this  standard  as  possessed  of 
miraculous  power  to  keep  them  from 
injury. 

Constantine  was  not  content  with 
tolerating  the  Christian  religion.  By  the 
Edict  of  Milan  (313  a.d.)  he  and  Licinius 
declared  it  equal  with  the  ancient  religion  : 
**  Let  every  man  embrace  the  religion 
which  pleases  him,  and  celebrate  its  rites 
freely.  In  divine  things  none  should  be 
forbidden  to  follow  the  way  that  seems  to  him  best."  The 
property  taken  from  the  Christian  Church  during  the  period 


THE    LABARUM. 


400  THE  ROMAN  PEOPLE, 

of  persecution  was  restored.     Religious  liberty  was  estab- 
lished. 

In  the  succeeding  years  Constantine  adopted  various 
measures  in  favor  of  the  churches.  He  closed  the  courts  on 
Sunday,  which  was  kept  holy  by  the  Christians  as  the  day 
of  Christ's  resurrection  and  by  the  sun-worshippers  as  the 
day  of  the  sun. 

The  Christians  being  supporters  of  Constantine,  Licinius, 
in  the  east,  became  their  enemy.  He  forbade  the  bishops 
to  meet,  closed  the  churches,  discharged  Christian  employees 
from  their  places,  and  even  imprisoned  some  of  their  number. 
After  his  victory  Constantine  extended  to  the  east  the  privi- 
leges enjoyed  by  the  Christians  in  the  west.  Christianity 
became  the  established  religion  of  the  empire. 

The  Council  of  Nicaea  (325  a.d.). — For  some  years  the 
Christian  Church  had  been  troubled  by  doubts  as  to  the 
nature  of  Christ.  Arius,  a  priest  of  Alexandria,  had  put 
forth  the  doctrine  that  God  the  Son,  having  been  created  by 
the  will  of  God  the  Father,  was  His  inferior.  An  assembly 
of  Egyptian  bishops  declared  him  a  heretic  and  excommuni- 
cated him,  but  other  bishops  in  the  east  supported  him  and 
the  dispute  took  very  active  form. 

Constantine  did  not  understand  exactly  what  the  trouble 
was  about,  but  he  was  anxious  to  maintain  peace.  He  wrote 
therefore  to  the  clergy  of  Alexandria:  "  I  desire  to  reduce 
to  a  single  formula  the  opinion  of  all  the  peoples  concerning 
the  divinity,  as  agreement  on  this  point  would  greatly  facili- 
tate public  administration.  Is  it  right  that  you  should 
battle  about  vain  words,  brother  against  brother?"  This 
letter  did  not  check  the  dispute. 

Constantine  then  summoned  all  the  bishops  to  determine 
true  Christian  doctrine  and  to  restore  order  in  the  church. 
This  resulted  in  the  Council  of  Nicaea,  the  first  Ecumenical 
Council  (that  is  to  say,  of  the  world). 

Here  assembled  three  hundred  and  eighteen  bishops, 
principally   Greeks,    acompanied   by  priests,    deacons,    and 


CONSTANTINE  AND   THE  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION.     401 

attendants.  Constantine  had  given  them  permission  to 
make  use  of  the  imperial  post  service  and  to  have  supplies 
furnished  them  like  officials  of  the  state. 

They  met  in  the  great  hall  of  the  palace  of  Nicaea;  Con- 
stantine entered  in  ceremonial  robes,  and  seated  himself  on 
a  throne  of  gold.  The  bishop  at  his  right  rose  and  addressed 
him.  Constantine  thanked  him,  declaring  himself  happy  to 
see  the  representatives  of  the  church  around  him,  and  urged 
them  earnestly  to  maintain  peace  as  befitted  servants  of  God. 
He  then  left  the  bishops  to  their  discussion. 

The  council  condemned  the  Arian  doctrine  by  a  large 
majority  and  adopted  the  confession  of  faith  proposed  by  the 
bishop  of  Corduba  (Cordova  in  Spain),  a  friend  of  the 
emperor,  and  Athanasius,  a  young  priest  of  Alexandria. 
This  was  the  Nicene  Creed.  In  it  the  Son  is  declared  to  be 
of  the  same  substance  with  the  Father  (o/vooucrzos). 

Constantine  treated  the  decisions  of  the  council  as  binding 
upon  all  Christians.  He  exiled  Arius  and  his  followers  and 
burned  their  books. 

Organization  of  the  Church. — The  Christian  religion, 
thus  recognized  by  the  emperor,  had  become  the  religion  of 
the  majority  of  his  subjects,  especially  in  the  east.  The 
bishops  proceeded  to  organize  the  church. 

They  organized  it  on  the  model  of  the  empire  in  the  form 
which  it  has  always  preserved.  In  each  municipality  there 
was  a  bishop  who  resided  in  the  city  and  ruled  over  the 
faithful  within  his  territory,  called  the  diocese;  he  was 
appointed  for  life  and  consecrated  by  the  other  bishops  of 
his  province  in  the  presence  of  the  clergy  and  people  of  the 
community,  that  is  to  say,  the  priests  and  assembly  of 
believers  who  approved  the  election.  The  number  of 
bishops  was  the  same  as  the  number  of  municipalities. 
This  is  why  there  are  many  bishops  in  the  east  and  in  Italy, 
where  the  cities  were  then  very  numerous,  and  the  dioceses 
small,  while  in  France,  where,  except  in  the  south,  cities 
were  rare,  the  bishops  are  few  and  the  dioceses  large. 


402  THE  ROM^N  PEOPLE. 

Each  province  became  an  ecclesiastical  province;  the 
bishop  of  the  capital  of  the  province  (metropolis)  was  called 
the  metropolitan  (later  archbishop),  and  was  superior  to  the 
other  bishops.  ^ 

Over  all  was  the  bishop  of  Rome,  the  Pope,  successor  to 
Saint  Peter.2 

The  bishops  met  together  to  settle  the  affairs  of  the 
church.  Their  assemblies  (in  Latin,  councils;  in  Greek, 
synods)  were  made  up  of  the  bishops  of  a  single  province  or 
of  a  whole  country.  The  assembly  of  all  the  bishops  of  the 
world  was  called  the  Ecuvienical  Council. 

The  council  decided  what  the  Christians  might  do  and 
what  they  should  believe.  When  a  doctrine  appeared  con- 
trary to  the  faith  of  the  church,  the  council  condemned  it 
and  branded  it  a  heresy  (individual  opinion),  declaring 
excommunicated  any  person  who  should  continue  to  profess 
it.  The  doctrine  of  the  church  was  called  orthodoxy,  the 
true  belief.  The  only  Christians  recognized  by  the  church 
were  the  orthodox.      Heretics  were  excluded  from  the  fold. 

The  churches  began  to  acquire  property.  They  no  longer 
possessed  only  their  cemeteries  and  meeting-places,  but 
many  had  domains;  Constantine  allowed  them  to  inherit 
money  and  lands,  and  even  made  them  gifts  himself.  The 
clergy  administered  this  property,  and  used  the  greater  part 
of  its  income  to  defray  the  expenses  of  the  church  and  dis- 
tribute alms  to  the  poor,  sick,  and  widowed. 

^  The  bishops  of  the  principal  cities  of  the  empire,  Milan,  Treves, 
Carthage,  and  especially  Alexandria,  Antioch,  Constantinople,  and 
Jerusalem  (where  they  were  later  c2X^q^  patriarchs),  were  often  consid- 
ered superior  to  the  other  metropolitans. 

\^  The  title  "pope"  was  not  yet  definitely  applied  to  the  bishop  of 
Rome.  Nor  was  his  headship  over  even  the  Western  church  recognized 
as  a  settled  thing  in  the  fourth  century.  A  certain  spiritual  primacy 
was  claimed  and  conceded,  but  hardly  more  than  this.  It  was  necessary 
that  Rome's  political  importance  should  pass  away  before  her  chief 
ecclesiastic  could  emerge  from  the  shadow  of  the  temporal  power,  and 
appear  as  the  chief  man  in  Rome.  This  was  not  to  be  until  the  fifth 
century.  ] 


CONSTANTINE  AND   THE  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION.    403 

Their  services  were  held  in  basilicas,  great  halls  adorned 
with  columns  and  originally  designed  as  court-rooms.  The 
bishop  and  priests  stood  at  the  end  of  the  hall,  near  the 
communion-table.  The  worshippers  occupied  the  nave  of 
the  basilica,  men  on  one  side,  women  on  the  other.  The 
catechumens,  those  who  were  not  yet  admitted  to  the  com- 
munion, took  part  in  only  a  portion  of  the  service,  the 
sermon,  and  were  dismissed  before  the  Eucharist.  The 
penitents,  those  who  had  sinned  and  were  not  yet  pardoned, 
stood  about  the  door.  Outside  was  the  baptistery,  with  the 
pool  in  which  the  catechumens  were  baptized. 

Founding  of  Constantinople. — In  326  a.d.  Constantine 
took  part  in  the  review  of  the  knights  at  Rome;  the  knights, 
in  accordance  with  the  ancient  pagan  custom,  went  up  to 
the  temple  of  Jupiter  on  the  Capitol,  but  the  emperor  did 
not  follow  them.  The  people  of  Rome,  who  were  still 
pagans,  murmured  against  this. 

Constantine  now  made  up  his  mind  to  establish  a  new 
capital  to  take  the  place  of  Rome.  ^  He  fixed  his  choice  on 
Byzantium,  an  ancient  city  on  the  Bosphorus,  the  strait 
connecting  the  Black  Sea  and  the  Sea  of  Marmora.  It 
occupied  an  exceptional  position  on  a  promontory  easily 
defended  from  the  land  side,  separated  from  Asia  only  by 
a  narrow  channel,  and  enjoying  a  beautiful  climate  in  a 
region  covered  with  vineyards,  orchards,  and  rich  harvests. 
The  harbor,  the  Golden  Horn,  was  deep  and  wide,  one  of 
the  finest  in  the  world;  while  capable  of  holding  twelve 
hundred  ships,  it  could  be  closed  against  an  enemy  with  a 
chain  eight  hundred  feet  in  length.     On  the  site  of  Byzan- 

['  It  would  be  wrong  to  think  that  Constantine  removed  the  seat  of 
empire  from  Rome  simply  out  of  pique  against  the  Roman  populace. 
There  were  far  deeper  reasons  than  this.  It  is  true  that  he  may  have 
deemed  it  wise,  at  a  time  when  all  the  old  institutions  were  giving  way 
before  the  methods  of  Oriental  despotism,  to  remove  the  seat  of  govern- 
ment  away  from  the  old  scenes  and  associations  of  republican  times  ; 
but  geographical  reasons  also  prompted  such  a  change.  Constantinople 
was  far  nearer  the  centre  of  population  than  Rome.] 


404  THE  ROMAN  PEOPLE, 

tium  Constantine  built  his  new  city  and  called  it  by  his 
name,  Constantinople.  He  surrounded  it  by  a  wall  fifteen 
miles  in  circumference,  and  built  a  palace,  a  circus,  aque- 
ducts, baths,  two  squares  surrounded  by  porticoes,  temples, 
and  the  Christian  Church  of  the  Holy  Apostles.  New 
military  quarters  were  also  constructed. 

Constantine  brought  famous  statues  from  Greece  and 
Rome  for  the  adornment  of  his  city:  a  Pallas,  the  Zeus  of 
Dodona,  the  Muses  from  Helicon,  and  the  Delphic  tripod. 

To  make  up  a  population  Constantinople  had  the  inhab- 
itants of  neighboring  cities  brought  thither  by  force.  He 
established  there,  as  at  Rome,  distributions  of  grain,  wine, 
and  oil,  and  numerous  public  shows.  He  created  a  senate  ^ 
like  that  at  Rome.  He  distributed  estates  and  palaces  to 
nobles  who  settled  there,  and  obliged  the  landed  proprietors 
of  neighboring  provinces  to  have  a  house  at  Constantinople. 

The  work  was  begun  in  326  a.d.,  and  in  less  than  four 
years  (330  a.d.)  the  inauguration  took  place. 

End  of  the  Reign  of  Constantine. — Constantine  was  sole 

ruler  of  the  empire  for  thirteen  years.     Crispus,  his  son  by 

his  first  wife,  was  accused  of  conspiring  against  him,  and  he 

had  him  put  to  death  together  with  a  number  of  his  friends 

(326  A.D.).     He  also  executed  Licinianus,  a  boy  of  twelve, 

the  son  of  his  sister  and  the  emperor  Licinius.      His  second 

wife,  Fausta,  and  his  mother,  Helena,  were  bitter  enemies  up 

to  the  time  of  Fausta's  death. 

It  is  said  that  Constantine  took  his  mother's  part  and  had 
his  wife  placed  in  an  overheated  bath,  in  which  she  was  suf- 
focated. 

[1  At  this  time  the  Roman  senate  had  sunk  almost  to  the  level  of  a 
mere  city  council.  The  new  senate  at  Constantinople  was  even  below  it 
in  dignity,  as  it  did  not  draw  its  members  from  a  long-established 
ruling  class,  nor  for  a  long  time  after  its  foundation  take  any  share  in 
imperial  affairs. 

It  became  the  rule  that  one  of  the  two  consuls  should  be  appointed  at 
Constantinople,  the  other  at  Rome.  The  chief  importance  of  the  con- 
suls under  the  later  empire  was  that  tiie  years  were  still  named  after 
them,  as  under  the  republic] 


0  Longitude  10  East 


30  Greenwich  50 


(NMAVEO    BY    BORMAY   fc    CO., 


CONST ANTINE  AhlD   THE   CHRISTIAN  RELIGION.    4^5 


Constantine  had  not  entirely  deserted  the  ancient  reHgion. 
He  retained  the  title  of  Pontifex  Maximus  and  the  pagan 
inscriptions  on  the  coins  [''To  the  Spirit  0/ the  Emperor,  To 
the  God  Mars").  The  foundation  ceremony  of  Constan- 
tinople was  placed  on  a  day  when  \he  sun  entered  the  con- 
stellation of  Sagittarius  (November  4,  326  a.d.),  and  an 
astrologer  watched  the  sky  to  see  if  the  hour  was  favorable. 
A  column  of  porphyry  was  erected  in  the  new  city,  bearing 
a  bronze  Apollo;  under  the  column  was  buried  a  reproduc- 
tion of  the  Palladium,  the  protecting  idol  of  Rome.  A 
statue  of  Fortune  was  placed  in  the  senate-house.  The 
majority  of  government  officials  and  soldiers  still  worshipped 
the  ancient  gods  or  the  Sun-god;  the  soldiers  recited  a 
prayer  to  the  divinity  for  the  welfare  of  the  emperor  and 
empire. 


COIN    OF   CONSTANTINE. 


Constantine,  however,  was  inclining  more  and  more 
towards  Christianity.  He  built  several  Christian  churches; 
he  destroyed  the  Mount  of  Calvary  on  which  Christ  was  said 
to  have  been  crucified  at  Jerusalem ;  he  built  the  Church  of 
the  Holy  Sepulchre  near  the  spot  where  Christ's  body  was 
entombed,^  and  the  Church  of  the  Nativity  on  the  site  of  His 
birthplace.  His  mother,  Helena,  went  herself  to  see  his 
work,  and  by  so  doing  gave  rise  to  thie  tradition  of  the  Dis- 
covery of  the  Holy  Cross, 

[1  The  correctness  of  the  identification  of  many  of  these  scenes  of 
sacred  history  is  disputed  by  archaeologists.  There  is  every  reason  to 
doubt  that  the  locations  of  Calvary  and  the  Holy  Sepulchre  are  where 
tradition  places  them.  Both  are  within  the  walls  of  the  ancient  city, 
which  would  have  been  impossible  for  places  either  of  execution  or  of 
burial.] 


4o6  THE  ROMAh!  PEOttE. 

The  story  goes  that  the  empress  Helena  had  come  to  Jerusa- 
lem in  search  of  the  true  cross,  on  which  Christ  was  crucified. 
The  bishop  of  Jerusalem  was  ignorant  of  its  whereabouts. 
Calvary  was  searched,  houses  torn  down  and  the  ground  dug 
up,  until  finally,  under  a  temple  of  Venus,  a  grotto  was  discov- 
ered containing  three  crosses,  that  of  Christ  and  tliose  of  the 
two  thieves  who  were  crucified  with  him. 

In  order  to  determine  which  was  the  cross  of  Christ,  the 
bishop  brought  a  dying  woman  to  pray  there  with  the  empress, 
asking  God  to  grant  a  miracle.  The  woman,  after  touching  the 
true  cross,  arose  healed. 

Constantine  died  in  337  a.d.  During  his  last  illness  he 
was  baptized,  and  was  buried  in  the  Christian  church  of 
Constantinople. 

New  Organization  of  the  Empire. — The  new  organization 
of  the  empire  which  Diocletian  had  instituted  continued 
through  the  reign  of  Constantine  and  was  completed  under 
his  successors. 

The  former  emperors,  living  in  Rome  or  with  the  army, 
had  maintained  the  simple  life  of  Roman  magistrates  and 
generals.  The  emperors  in  the  east  (from  Diocletian 
onward)  adopted  the  habits  of  Oriental  kings.  Instead  of 
being  content  with  the  toga,  the  badge  of  citizenship,  they 
wore  the  diadem,  a  pearl-studded  crown,  the  emblem  of 
royalty,  and  magnificent  flowing  robes  of  silk  and  gold. 
Instead  of  appearing  about  the  city,  they  shut  themselves 
up  in  the  palace,  allowing  themselves  to  be  seen  only  on 
feast-days,  seated  on  a  golden  throne,  surrounded  by  a  host 
of  attendants,  armed  guards,  and  courtiers.  Instead  of 
receiving  friends  and  eating  with  them  familiarly,  they  held 
aloof  from  the  rest  of  mankind  as  if  they  were  gods.  A  man 
admitted  to  the  emperor's  presence  bowed  his  head  to  the 
floor  in  token  of  adoration.  The  emperor  was  called 
Master,  Majesty,  and  the  citizens  became  the  subjects  (in 
Greek,  slaves)  of  the  emperor.  The  emperor  was  divine 
and  everything  belonging  to  him  **  sacred":  the  "  sacred 
palaoe,"  "sacred  chamber,"  "sacred  council,"  "sacred 
treasury."     The  emperor's  palace  became  like  the  rourt  of 


CONSTANTINE  AND   THE   CHRISTIAN  RELIGION     407 

the  king  of  Persia.  This  was  the  system  known  as  the 
Lower  Empire. 

The  emperor  was  surrounded  by  a  complete  court :  several 
companies  of  body-guards,  both  foot  and  horse,  a  small 
army  to  guard  his  palace,  a  troop  of  chamberlains  to  wait 
on  him,  a  troop  of  officials  to  attend  to  his  affairs,  a  council 
of  state  to  aid  in  the  government,  ushers,  pages,  and  a  large 
staff  of  secretaries  divided  into  four  bureaus. 

The  emperor  did  not  hold  direct  communication  with  all 
of  these.  He  gave  his  orders  to  the  ministers,  each  of  whom 
controlled  a  special  branch  of  the  imperial  service.  The 
principal  of  these  functionaries  were  (at  a  somewhat  later 
date  when  the  system  was  fully  developed): 

1.  The  master  of  soldiery  in  the  presence; 

2.  The  provost  of  the  sacred  bedchamber; 

3.  The  master  of  the  offices,  controlling 

a.  The  bureau  of  memorials,  under  a  master; 

b.  The  bureau  of  correspondence,  under  a  master; 

c.  The  bureau  of  requests,  under  a  master; 

d.  The  bureau  of  Greek  versions,  under  a  master; 
also  the  arsenals  and  the  secret  police; 

4.  The  quaestor,  whose  duty  it  was  to  put  all  official 
documents  in  legal  form; 

5.  The  count  of  the  sacred  bounties,  or  secretary  of  the 
treasury ; 

6.  The  coun-t  of  the  private  domains. 

In  the  times  when  there  were  two  emperors,  as  under 
Arcadius  and  Honorius,  this  staff  was  duplicated,  one  court 
being  fully  constituted  at  Constantinople,  the  other  at  Rome 
(or  Milan). 

The  empire  was  divided  into  one  hundred  and  seventeen 
provinces,  each  with  its  governor,  known  as  a  consular,  or 
a  corrector.^  Several  provinces  were  united  in  one  diocese 
under   a    vicar    (for   instance,   Gaul,    Spain,    and   Britain). 

[*  Only  three  governors  bore  the  ancient  title  of  proconsul — those  of 
Asia,  Achaia,  and  Africa.] 


4o8  THE  ROMAN  PEOPLE. 

Finally,  several  dioceses  were  again  united  under  one 
praetorian  prefect,  of  whom  there  were  four^  for  the  whole 
empire.  None  of  these  officials  had  now  any  power  over 
the  soldiers. 

The  armies  were  divided  in  smaller  legions  than  formerly 
and  commanded  by  counts  and  dukes,  ^  who  were  established 
in  the  frontier  provinces.  The  two  chief  in  command  were 
the  master  of  the  horse  and  the  master  of  the  foot-soliders. 

All  these  functionaries  and  officers  were  divided  in  various 
categories  denoting  their  degree  of  dignity;  each,  according 
to  his  rank,  received  a  hereditary  title  from  the  emperor. 
These  were  the  several  degrees  of  nobility,  beginning  with 
the  highest  : 

The  nobilissimi  (most  noble),  princes  of  the  imperial 
family; 

The  illusires  (illustrious),  the  chiefs  of  the  imperial  service, 
praetorian  prefects,  and  masters  of  the  soldiers; 

The  spectabiles  (Avorshipful),  vicars,  counts,  and  dukes; 

The  clarissime  (right  honorable),  also  called  senators,  the 
governors ; 

The  perfectissimi  (honorable),  the  lowest  grade  of  govern- 
ors; 

The  egregii  (esquires),  who  corresponded  very  nearly  to 
the  former  knights. 

Every  person  of  importance  had  thus  his  office,  his  title, 
and  his  rank. 

A  larger  amount  of  money  was  now  necessary  to  maintain 
this  staff  of  courtiers  and  employees.^  The  empire  was  im- 
poverished by  wars  and  invasions,  and  the  taxes  had  to  be 
increased.     The  principal  new  taxes  were:  the  tax  on  land, 

[1  Of  the  East,  of  lUyricum,  of  Italy,  of  the  Gauls.] 

[2  The  count  was  higher  than  the  duke,  contrary  to  the  precedence 
among  modern  nobles.] 

p  The  count  of  the  sacred  bounties  had  a  staff  of  224  officials  and  610 
supernumeraries  ;  the  proconsul  of  Africa  had  400  officials.  These 
were  all  highly  paid,  the  slaves  not  being  included  in  this  number.] 


CONSTANTINE  AND    THE  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION.    409 

for  which  a  new  valuation  was  made  every  fifteen  years 
{itCdiction) ;  the  poll-tax ;  also  the  taxes  on  industry  and  com- 
merce, payable  every  five  years. 

Collection  of  the  taxes  became  more  difficult  every  year. 
In  each  municipality  the  council  (curia)  had  charge  of  the 
work,  and  its  members,  the  curiales,  were  responsible  for  the 
money,  being  obliged  to  make  good  any  deficit.  The  office 
of  curialis  (town  councillor),  hitherto  sought  as  an  honor, 
came  to  be  considered  in  the  fourth  century  a  ruinous 
charge,  which  was  to  be  avoided  if  possible.  The  emperors 
passed  laws  to  enforce  the  acceptance  of  the  office,  and  every 
landed  proprietor,  whether  he  wished  it  or  not,  was  obliged 
to  become  a  member  of  the  curia.  Many  preferred  to 
renounce  their  lands,  and  fled  the  country  to  become 
employees,  soldiers,  or  priests.  The  emperors  ordered  them 
to  be  found  and  brought  back  by  force.  This  strugsfle 
between  the  emperor  and  the  curiales  lasted  for  over  a 
century  and  a  half. 

SOURCES. 

Eusebius Ecclesiastical  History. 

Eutropius Bk.  x  to  §  8. 

Lactantius On  the  Deaths  of  the  Persecutors. 

The  Early  Christian  Persecutions;  Vol. 
IV,  No.  I,  Translations  and  Reprints, 
Sources  of  European  History,  Univ.  of 
Penna. 
Notitia  Dignitatum,  or  Pe^ister  of  Dig- 
nitaries; ibid..  Vol.  VI,  No.  4. 

PARALLEL   READING. 

Duruy c.  ci-civ. 

Gibbon cc.  xiv-xviii,  xx. 

Botsford..      c.  xii. 

Morey.. c.  xxviii,  §  2. 

Myers c,  xix, 

Milman History  of  Christianity,  Bk.  11,  c.  ix,  Bk. 

Ill,  cc.  i-iv. 

Bury Later  Povian  Empire,  cc.  i,  ii,  v. 

Stanley,  A.  P Lectures   on  the  History   of  the   Eastern 

Church,  Lectures  ii-vi. 

Newman,  J.  H The  Arians  of  the  Fourth  Century . 

Seeley,  J.  R Poinan  Imperialism;   The  Later  Empire, 

Oman,  C.  W.  C The  Byzantine  Empire  {^2iX\ons),  pp.  13-30. 


CHAPTER   XXVII. 
THE    DOWNFALL   OF   PAGANISM. 

*  The  Growth  of  Monarchy. — The  last  stage  in  the 
development  of  absolutism  had  thus  been  reached.  It  is 
possible  to  discriminate  with  some  degree  of  exactness  the 
stages  in  this  process. 

Under  Augustus,  the  real  organizer  of  the  empire  (for 
Julius  did  not  live  long  enough  to  carry  out  his  schemes) 
the  system  was  one  of  dual  control.  The  imperator  (our 
modern  word  emperor  carries  with  it  altogether  too  much 
of  the  royal  idea)  posed  simply  as  first  citizen,  and  professed 
to  divide  the  sovereignty  with  the  senate.  This  system  has 
received  the  name  dyarchy. 

In  the  second  century  there  was  a  more  franK  expression 
of  the  fact  that  the  imperator  was  the  real  head  of  the 
government.  But  the  senate  was  still  allowed  a  certain 
degree  of  power.  The  period  of  the  Antonines  may  be 
called  one  of  limited  monarchy. 

With  Septimius  Severus,  at  the  opening  of  the  third 
century,  the  senate  is  still  more  disregarded,  and  the  founda- 
tions of  absolute  monarchy  are  laid.  But  this  monarchy  is 
still  Roman,  and  the  imperator  is  a  Roman  soldier. 

Diocletian  and  Constantine  transmute  the  absolute 
monarchy  into  Oriental  despotism. 

The  Imperial  Succession. — There  had  never  been  any 
fixed  method  of  providing  a  successor  on  the  death  of  an 
emperor.  There  was  a  theory  that  it  was  the  right  of  the 
senate  to  nominate,  and  of  the  Roman  people  to  ratify  the 

410 


THE  DOIVNFALL   OF  PAGANISM.  4" 

nomination  of,  each  emperor.  But  this  proceeding  was  a 
mere  form.  Some  of  the  best  emperors,  as  the  Antonines, 
had  secured  the  succession  to  a  worthy  follower  by  adopting 
and  associating  with  themselves  the  men  whom  they  thought 
fit  for  the  weighty  office.  Diocletian  thought  he  had  found 
a  remedy  for  confusion  and  scandal  in  his  system  of  associate 
Augusti  and  Caesars,  of  whom  the  two  Augusti  were  to 
abdicate,  as  he  himself  did,  after  twenty  years,  and  the  two 
Caesars  to  take  their  places;  these  in  turn  naming  two  new 
Caesars. 

But  we  have  seen  how  this  worked  at  the  close  of 
Diocletian's  career.  It  was  too  artificial  to  be  practical. 
And  now  Constantine,  with  all  his  political  genius,  was 
unable  to  devise  a  scheme  of  succession  which  should  be 
satisfactory.  This  lack  of  system  was  one  of  the  greatest 
weaknesses  of  the  empire. 

The  Sons  of  Constantine. — Constantine  left  three  sons: 
Constantine  II.,  to  whom  were  given  the  Gauls  and  north- 
western Africa;  Constantius  took  the  east,  and  Constans  the 
lands  lying  between  these,  viz.,  Italy,  Illyria,  and  the 
remainder  of  Africa.  Each  of  these  was  entitled  Augustus. 
Two  nephews  of  the  great  emperor  were  also  given  smaller 
shares  in  the  government.  The  inevitable  result  followed. 
Bitter  quarrels  broke  out,  and  of  the  three  brothers  Con- 
stantius alone  was  left  after  350  a.d. 

Constantius  took  a  conspicuous  part  in  the  religious 
movements  of  his  time.  He  began  to  persecute  the  pagans, 
particularly  in  the  west,  but  was  unable  to  enforce  his 
prohibitions  of  the  old  worship.  He  also  took  the  opposite 
course  from  his  father  with  regard  to  the  divisions  among 
the  Christians,  for  while  Constantine  had  favored  the 
orthodox  party,  the  son  took  the  side  of  the  Arians. 
Bishops  who  had  been  banished  were  now  restored,  and  the 
orthodox  leaders  were  forced  into  exile.  The  contentions 
were  so  bitter  that  Ammianus  Marcellinus,  the  great  pagan 
historian  of  the  time,  writes:   "  There  are  no  wild  beasts  so 


412 


THE  ROMAN  PEOPLE. 


hostile   to    man    as    most    of   these   Christians  are  to    one 
another." 

Julian  the  Apostate. — Constant! us  left  but  one  relative, 
his  nephew  Julian,  who  had  escaped  from  the  general 
slaughter  of  his  family  in  338  a.d.  because  he  was  but  six 
years  of  age  at  the  time.  He  had  been  brought  up  as  a 
semi-prisoner  in  Cappadocia,   where  his  training  had  been 

of  the  severely  Christian 
kind.  Religious  exercises, 
pilgrimages,  and  the  like, 
filled  his  days.  Later  he 
was  allowed  to  study 
Greek  philosophy  at  Nico- 
media.  He       became 

enamored  of  its  teachings 
and  secretly  abjured  Chris- 
tianity. 

While  Constantius  was 
living  Julian  distinguished 
himself  by  conquering  the 
Alemanni  who  had  in- 
vaded Gaul.  He  made 
his  headquarters  at  Lu- 
tetia,  the  modern  Paris, 
where,  in  the  Hotel  de 
Cluny,  a  museum  contains  many  relics  of  him  and  his  time. 
At  the  death  of  Constantius  in  361  a.d.,  Julian  succeeded 
him,  by  wish  of  his  army.  He  at  once  devoted  himself  to 
destroying  Christianity  and  reestablishing  the  ancient 
religion.  He  restored  the  sacrifices,  reinstated  the  priests 
of  the  ancient  gods  in  the  enjoyment  of  their  honors  and 
domains,  and  ordered  the  Christians  to  restore  the  temples 
which  had  been  converted  into  churches  and  to  rebuild 
those  that  had  been  destroyed. 

He  deprived  the  Christian  clergy  of  their  privileges.  He 
forbade  Christians  to  teach   philosophy  or  literature,   and 


JULIAN. 


THE  DOlVhIFALL   OF  PAGANISM.  4^3 

thus  compelled  Christian  teachers  to  resign  from  the  schools. 
Julian  was  not  willing  that  books  containing  allusions  to  the 
gods  should  be  explained  by  men  who  did  not  believe  in 
those  gods.  **  It  is  not  right,"  he  said,  **  to  pierce  us  with 
our  own  arrows  and  fight  us  with  our  own  books." 

He  wrote  a  treatise  against  the  Christians. 

He  recommended  that  no  offices  should  be  given  to 
Christians,  but  he  did  not  discharge  Christians  already  in 
office. 

He  gave  orders  to  rebuild  the  Temple  of  Jerusalem.  But 
the  workmen  were  frightened  by  seeing  flames  spring  from 
the  ground,  and  the  work  was  stopped. 

Julian  attempted  to  organize  the  ancient  religion  on  the 
model  of  Christianity.  He  ordered  the  priests  to  read 
religious  books  (Pythagoras,  Plato,  and  the  Stoics),  to  hold 
family  worship  every  day,  to  avoid  the  theatre  and  the 
public-house,  and  to  wear  a  purple  robe  when  preaching  to 
the  people.  He  advocated  the  introduction  of  music  and 
singing  into  the  ceremonies. 

All  these  endeavors  came  to  nothing  because  Julian  had 
not  time  to  carry  them  through.  Like  Alexander,  he  led 
an  army  against  the  Parthians,  defeated  them,  and  crossed 
the  Tigris,  but  in  a  succeeding  battle  was  mortally  wounded 
by  an  arrow.  Before  his  death  he  called  for  his  two 
philosophers  and  talked  with  them  concerning  the  immor- 
tality of  the  soul  {7,6^  A.D.). 

Later  it  was  reported  that  when  the  arrow  struck  him,  he 
cried  (addressing  Christ),  "Thou  hast  conquered,   Galilean!" 

Jovian,  the  commander  of  the  guards,  was  proclaimed  em- 
peror by  the  soldiers.  He  made  peace  with  the  Parthians 
by  restoring  the  territory  Diocletian  had  won  from  them,  and 
was  leading  his  army  homeward  when  he  died,  in  Asia. 

Valentinian  and  Valens. — The  army  chose  for  his  suc- 
cessor Valentinian,  an  Illyrian  officer  who  spoke  Latin  and 
had  a  slight  knowledge  of  Greek  (364  a.d.).     For  the  sake 


414  THE  ROMAN  PEOPLE, 

of  a  second  donaiivum  the  soldiers  insisted  on  having 
another  emperor,  and  Valentinian  secured  the  appointment 
for  his  brother  Valens.  Valentinian  left  Valens  at  Con- 
stantinople and  established  himself  in  the  west,  at 
Milan. 

Valentinian  was  essentially  a  warrior,  brave,  harsh,  and 
violent.      He  has  been  credited  with  more  or  less  ferocity. 

He  had  a  servant  beaten  to  death  for  being  too  qiiick  in 
releasing  a  dog  on  his  game.  A  workman  bent  a  cuirass  slightly 
in  engraving  it ;  the  emperor  had  him  executed.  He  had  a 
driver  burned  alive  for  an  unguarded  speech.  An  office-holder 
requested  a  change.  "  He  wants  to  be  removed,"  was  the  em- 
peror's answer;  "  remove  his  head."  Near  his  chamber  he  kept 
two  fierce  bears  to  which  he  caused  condemned  persons  to  be 
thrown.  He  had  a  young  noble  executed  for  having  copied  out 
a  collection  of  formulas  in  magic. 

He  increased  the  taxes  and  adopted  severe  measures  to 
enforce  their  collection.  In  each  of  a  number  of  cities 
which  had  fallen  short  of  the  required  subscription  he 
ordered  the  execution  of  three  curiales.  The  praetorian 
prefect  asked  him :  "  What  shall  we  do  in  cities  where  there 
are  not  as  many  as  three  curiales  ?  Shall  we  wait  until  there 
are  three  ? ' '     The  answer  was  * '  Yes. ' ' 

Valentinian  was  a  Christian.  He  restored  the  privileges 
of  the  Catholic  churches,  but  allowed  freedom  in  the  practice 
of  all  creeds,  even  the  ceremonies  of  the  Greek  mysteries. 

The  barbarians  that  invaded  the  empire  along  the  Danube, 
in  Britain,  and  on  the  Rhine  were  all  repulsed.  Valentinian 
spent  almost  his  whole  reign  in  Gaul  directing  the  war 
against  the  Alemanni;  he  drove  them  back  across  the  Rhine 
and  reestablished  the  old  boundary.  He  died  in  an  expedi- 
tion to  the  Danube  (375  a.d.). 

His  elder  son,  Gratian,  a  boy  of  sixteen,  succeeded  him 
as  emperor  of  the  west ;  the  younger,  Valentinian  H. ,  aged 
four,  was  also  proclaimed  Augustus. 

Valens  was  meantime  making  himself  hated  in  the  east 
because  of  his  cruelty.     He  had  a  great  fear  of  magic,  and 


I 


THE  DOIVNFALL   OF  PAGANISM,  415 

ordered  all  books  on  the  subject  to  be  collected  and  burned, 
together  with  the  persons  in  whose  possession  they  were 
found. 

He  too  was  a  Christian,  but  an  Arian,  and  he  persecuted 
the  orthodox  Catholics. 

Valens  was  not  a  soldier  and  knew  nothing  of  defending 
the  empire,  neither  could  he  keep  an  army  in  condition. 
The  frontier  provinces  were  ravaged  by  plundering  bands 
and  the  Roman  soldiers  refused  to  come  out  of  their  com- 
fortable fortresses  to  fight  them. 

Invasion  of  the  Visigoths. — The  Goths,  a  German  people 
occupying  the  plains  north  of  the  Danube,  were  attacked  by 
the  Huns,  an  Asiatic  people,  yellow,  short,  thickset,  and 
beardless,  with  small  shifting  eyes,  who  were  always  on  their 
•  horses'  backs,  and  lived  on  roots  and  raw  flesh  which  they 
allowed  to  mortify  hanging  at  their  saddles.  They  fought 
with  the  spear,  bow,  and  lasso,  charging  with  wild  cries, 
then  wheeling  about  to  charge  again. 

The  Goths  were  unable  to  resist  them.  A  portion  of  the 
nation,  the  Visigoths  (western  Goths),  decided  to  emigrate. 
One  of  their  chiefs,  Fritigern,  who  was  a  Christian,  sent  the 
bishop  of  the  Goths,  to  ask  the  emperor  to  establish  his 
people  in  the  empire.  Valens  assented.  The  Goths  were 
to  surrender  their  arms  and  give  their  children  as  hostages; 
the  emperor,  on  his  part,  agreed  to  furnish  them  with  pro- 
visions (375  A.D.). 

The  Visigoths,  numbering  in  all  three  hundred  thousand, 
crossed  the  Danube  and  were  established  in  the  plain.  The 
Roman  agents,  however,  did  not  furnish  them  the  promised 
supplies,  and  they  were  obliged  to  sell  their  slaves  and  even 
their  wives  and  children  to  save  themselves  from  starvation 
(376  A.D.). 

Some  of  them  had  kept  their  arms  and  now  began  to 
pillage  the  country.  Valens  and  Gratian  sent  troops  against 
them.  But  the  Visigoths  were  reenforced  by  other  Gothic 
tribes,    the   Ostrogoths   or   eastern    Goths,    and   barbarian 


41 6  THE  ROMAN  PEOPLE. 

peasants  and  miners.  They  made  a  fort  of  their  chariots, 
and  attacked  the  Roman  camp  near  the  mouth  of  the 
Danube  in  an  indecisive  battle  ['^jj  a.d.). 

The  Visigoth  army,  increased  by  barbarian  warriors  from 
the  other  side  of  the  Danube,  crossed  the  Balkans,  and  laid 
waste  the  whole  country  as  far  as  Constantinople.  Gratian, 
attacked  at  the  same  time  by  the  Alemanni  on  the  Rhine, 
had  recalled  his  troops.  He  vanquished  the  Alemanni  and 
drove  them  back  into  the  mountains  beyond  the  Rhine,  then 
sent  word  to  Valens  that  he  was  coming  to  his  assistance, 
Valens  was  at  Constantinople  with  his  army,  and  his  generals 
begged  him  to  wait;  but  he  was  anxious  to  avoid  sharing 
the  glory,  and  gave  orders  to  march  against   the  Visigoths 

(378   A.D.). 

The  Romans,  hungry  and  thirsty  and  wearied  with  march- 
ing in  the  dust  and  heat,  arrived  in  disorder  before  the 
enemy's  camp.  Out  came  the  Gothic  horsemen,  charged 
on  the  Romans  and  routed  them  completely.  Valens  was 
wounded  by  an  arrow  and  carried  into  a  hut,  where  his 
companions  tried  unsuccessfully  to  defend  him.  The  bar- 
barians set  fire  to  the  hut  and  the  emperor  perished,  in  all 
probability  burned  to  death. 

The  next  day  the  Goths  attempted  to  take  Adrianople, 
failing  in  which  they  spread  out  over  all  the  Illyrian 
provinces  and  laid  them  waste. 

/  Theodosius. — Gratian,  feeling  himself  too  young  to 
undertake  the  defence  of  the  empire  alone,  fixed  his  choice 
on  a  young  Spanish  general  of  twenty-three,  Theodosius, 
and,  summoning  him  from  Spain,  proclaimed  him  Augustus 
and  entrusted  him  with  the  government  of  Illyria  and  the 
east  (379  A.D.). 

Theodosius  went  to  Thessalonica  and  proceeded  to 
reorganize  the  army  and  restore  it  to  discipline;  he  became 
popular  with  his  men  by  treating  them  politely  and  sharing 
their  exertions  and  fatigue.  When  the  army  was  ready  he 
opened  his  campaign  against  the  Goths,     His  object  was 


THE  DOIVNFALL  OF  PAGANISM, 


417 


not  to  destroy  them,  but  rather  to  induce  them  to  surrender. 
He     received     their     king, 


made      him      presents 
treated  him  as  a  friend. 

Finally,  after  a  fresh 
vasion  of  barbarians  in 
A.D.,  he  effected  a  peace, 
ceded  to  the  Visigoths 
provinces  south  of 
Danube,      and     there 


and 

in- 
381 
Ht 
th- 

the 

they 
settled  with  their  own  chiefs 
as  allies  {/oederaii),  not  sub- 
jects, of  the  empire.  They 
engaged  to  fight  for  the  em- 
peror for  a  wage,  and  collars 
and  bracelets  of  gold  ;  Theo- 
dosius  enrolled  forty  thousand 
of  them  in  the  Roman  army 
under  these  conditions, 

Gratian  was  not  liked  in 
the  west.  He  was  reproached 
with  being  too  fond  of  hunt- 
ing, of  associating  with  bar- 
barians and  dressing  like 
them,  of  neglecting  his  army, 
and  allowing  his  courtiers  to  .  thbodosius. 

sell  offices  and  judgments.  The  army  in  Britain  revolted 
and  proclaimed  emperor  its  general  Maximus,  a  Spaniard. 
Maximus  crossed  to  Gaul,  and  a  battle  was  fought  near  Paris. 
Gratian  was  abandoned  by  his  soldiers  and  took  to  flight, 
but  was  overtaken  and  killed  near  Lyons  {'^^'^  a.d.). 

Theodosius  recognized  Maximus  as  emperor.  Young 
Valentinian  II.  at  Milan  retained  Italy  and  Africa. 

Maximus  invaded  Italy  with  an  army  of  German  bar- 
barians (387  A.D.).  Valentinian  fled  to  Theodosius,  who 
promised  him  assistance  and  took  his  sister  in  marriage. 


4i8  THE  ROMAN  PEOPLE. 

With  an  army  composed  mainly  of  Gothic  barbarians 
Theodosius  marched  on  Italy,  defeated  Maximus  and  had 
him  beheaded. 

Theodosius  remained  in  Italy  three  years,  during  which 
period  occurred  the  famous  incident  of  his  penance. 
Theodosius  had  placed  Gothic  ofHcers  and  soldiers  in  his 
eastern  garrisons,  and  these  Goths  now  formed  the  most 
solid  portion  of  the  Roman  army.  The  inhabitants  of  the 
large  cities  were  constantly  quarrelling  with  these  barbarians, 
and  Theodosius  ordinarily  took  the  part  of  his  soldiers.  In 
390  A.D.  there  was  such  a  violent  outbreak  in  Thessalonica 
that  a  number  of  Gothic  officers  lost  their  lives.  In  a 
passion  of  rage  Theodosius  ordered  the  population  of 
Thessalonica  exterminated.  Accordingly,  one  day  when  the 
inhabitants  were  assembled  in  the  circus  for  the  games,  the 
Gothic  soldiers  surrounded  the  building  and  in  three  hours 
killed  every  man,  woman,  and  child. 

Theodosius  was  in  Milan  when  the  news  of  the  massacre 
reached  Italy.  When  he  next  entered  the  church  he  was 
stopped  at  the  door  by  Ambrose,  who  forbade  him  to  enter 
because,  by  shedding  innocent  blood,  he  had  made  himself 
unworthy  to  enter  the  sanctuary.  Theodosius,  shut  out 
from  communion  with  the  faithful,  accepted  the  bishop's 
sentence.  For  eight  months  he  did  not  enter  a  church, 
until,  having  done  penance  for  his  crime,  he  returned  for  the 
Christmas  festival. 

For  the  first  time  an  emperor  had  recognized  a  power 
superior  to  his  own,  that  of  the  Christian  clergy. 

The  Franks  had  just  invaded  Gaul.  Theodosius  sent 
Valentinian  II.  against  them  with  a  Frankish  barbarian 
named  Arbogast  for  his  general.  Arbogast  drove  the  Franks 
across  the  Rhine  and  governed  in  Valentinian 's  name,  the 
latter  being  too  young  and  inexperienced  to  fulfil  his  duties. 
Valentinian  w^as  jealous  and,  having  made  up  his  mind  to 
be  rid  of  him,  sent  him  a  letter  of  dismissal.  Arbogast 
threw   the   letter   down,   saying   that   power   entrusted   by 


THE  DOIVJ^FALL  OF  PAGANISM.  419 

Theodosius  could  not  be  revoked  by  any  one  else.  Valen- 
tinian  seized  a  sword  and  rushed  at  Arbogast  They  were 
separated,  and  some  time  later  Valentinian  was  found  hang- 
ing to  a  tree  (392  a  d,). 

Arbogast,  not  being  a  Roman,  could  not  proclaim  himself 
emperor,  so  chose  Eugenius,  a  former  rhetorician.  He  was 
anxious  to  remain  on  peaceful  terms  with  Theodosius,  but 
Theodosius  refused  to  recognize  him,  and  he  and  Arbogast 
speedily  were  defeated  and  put  to  death. 

Theodosius  reigned  alone  for  one  year,  then  died,  at  the 
age  of  fifty  (395  a.d.). 

Official  Suppression  of  Paganism. — Since  the  time  of 
Constantine  Christianity  had  been  spreading  in  the  empire. 
The  ancient  gods  were  worshipped  only  by  the  inhabitants 
of  Rome,  the  soldiers,  and  the  country  people.  These 
began  to  be  called  pagans  {paganus,  a  peasant). 

The  early  Christian  emperors  lett  the  pagans  free  to  prac- 
tise their  religion,  and  even  preserved  the  title  of  pontifex 
maximus,  until  Gratian  refused  to  bear  the  title  or  wear  the 
robe.  He  declined  to  support  any  religion  but  Christianity. 
He  removed  from  the  senate  chamber  at  Rome  the  statue 
and  altar  of  Victory  to  which  sacrifices  were  made. 

Theodosius  did  more.  He  forbade  the  offering  of  sacri- 
fices to  the  gods,  then  ordered  the  praetorian  prefect  to  close 
the  temples  and  suppress  paganism  throughout  the  east. 
The  soldiers,  aided  by  the  monks,  proceeded  to  demolish 
the  temples,  overturn  the  altars,  and  break  or  mutilate 
the  idols  (394-396  a.d.).  Marcellus,  a  bishop  of  Syria, 
with  a  band  of  soldiers  went  through  the  country  destroying 
pagan  sanctuaries;  he  was  killed  by  the  peasants  and 
venerated  as  a  martyr. 

In  391  A.D.  Theodosius  forbade  any  subject  of  the  empire 
to  enter  the  temple  of  a  heathen  god.  In  392  a.d.  he  made 
the  worship  of  idols  punishable  with  death.  'J "he  Serapeum  at 
Alexandria,  the  tomb  of  the  sacred  bulls  of  Apis,  was  closed. 
The  stone  coffin  of  the  last  ADis  was  afterwards  found  in  the 


42 o  THE  ROMAN  PEOPLE, 

gallery,  not  enough  time  having  been  given  to  put  it  in 
place. 

The  Roman  senators  refused  to  give  up  the  old  religion, 
about  which  clung  all  the  memories  of  Roman  history. 
They  asked  permission  of  Theodosius  to  replace  the  statue 
of  Victory  in  their  hall,  but  were  refused;  they  then  appealed 
with  better  success  to  Eugenius,  although  he  too  was  a 
Christian.  Arbogast,  who  favored  the  pagans,  placed  the 
image  of  Hercules  on  the  standards,  and  the  praetorian 
prefect  at  Rome  ordered  a  pagan  festival  for  the  purifying 
of  the  city. 

After  the  defeat  of  Eugenius  Theodosius  dealt  the  last 
blow  to  paganism.  The  statue  of  ^Victory  was  decisively 
withdrawn  from  the  senate  chamber.  The  sacred  fire  on  the 
Roman  hearth,  guarded  so  long  by  the  Vestals  (see  page 
40),  was  extinguished.  The  Olympian  games  in  Greece 
were  celebrated  for  the  last  time  (394  a.d.). 

Paganism  nevertheless  survived  another  century  and  more. 

SOURCES. 

Ammianus  Marcellinus.   Roman  History. 
Eutropius Bk.  x,  from  §  10. 

PARALLEL   READING. 

Duruy cc.  cv-cix. 

Gibbon cc.  xix,  xxi-xxviii. 

Botsford ^ c.  xiii  to  p.  298. 

Moray c.  xxviii,  §  3. 

Myers cc.  xxi-xxii,  §  267. 

Milman Vol.  11,  Bk.  iii,c.vi:  Vol.  in,  Bk.  iii,  c.vi. 

Hodgkin Italy  and  her  Invaders,  Bk.  I,  cc.  i-xii 

Gardner,  Alice Julian  (Heroes). 

Bradley The  Goths  (Stories  of  the  Nations). 


CHAPTER   XXVIII. 
THE    BARBARIAN    INVASIONS. 

Arcadius  and  Honorius. — Theodosius,  on  his  death  in 
395  A.D.,  left  his  empire  to  his  two  young  sons,  Arcadius 
and  Honorius.  The  former  was  to  rule  at  Constantinople, 
the  latter  in  the  west.  There  was  no  thought  of  a  division 
of  the  empire  by  such  an  arrangement.  The  brothers  were 
to  be  joint  emperors  of  a  common  dominion.  But  the  fault 
of  such  an  arrangement  is  obvious.  Either  the  country  is 
too  large  to  be  governed  from  one  centre,  or  this  system  is 
weak  from  its  lack  of  centralization  and  unity.  Yet  in  this 
partition  (for  such  it  really  came  to  be)  is  to  be  found  the 
germ  of  a  great  advantage.  For  within  a  century  of  the  time 
of  Theodosius  the  western  half  of  the  empire  crumbled  and 
dissolved,  but  the  very  fact  that  the  eastern  half  was  semi- 
independent  before  this  happened  enabled  it  to  live  on  and 
to  maintain  its  organization  and  life,  and  to  be  for  centuries 
the  barrier  which  protected  Europe  from  Mohammedan 
invasion  on  its  eastern  side. 

The  Visigoths  and  Alaric. — The  reigns  of  the  two 
brothers  were  marked  by  renewed  troubles  with  the  Ger- 
manic peoples.  Their  presence  north  of  the  empire  had  first 
disclosed  itself  as  a  serious  menace  five  hundred  years  before, 
but  Marius  had  been  able  to  avert  that  threat  for  a  time  by 
his  defeat  of  the  Cimbri  and  the  Teutons  (see  page  T93). 
Caesar's  conquest  of  Gaul  had  interposed  a  temporary  barrier 
against  the  Germans  on  the  northwest.  But  the  growing 
power  of  the  barbarians  and  the  increasing  weakness  of  the 

421 


422 


THE  ROMAN  PEOPLE. 


empire  together  made  it  inevitable  that  the  Germanic  hordes 
should  overflow  from  central  into  southern  Europe. 
.  There  was  pressure  upon  these  people  and  temptation 
before  them.  That  pressure  was  of  the  increasing  popula- 
tion of  their  own  sections. 
Their  mode  of  life  re- 
quired extensive  terri- 
tory; for  their  methods 
of  agriculture  and  herd 
ing  were  very  primitive. 
Moreover,  the  pressure 
had  been  aggravated,  as 
we  have  seen  in  the  case 
of  the  Visigoths,  by  the 
appearance  of  the  Huns 
(see  page  415).  The 
temptation  was  that 
spread  before  these  people 
by  the  happier  climate, 
the  wealth,  and  the  many 
attractions  of  the  empire. 
The  resultant  of  this  pres- 
sure from  the  rear  and 
this  attraction  from  the 
front  was  a  vast  irruption 
of  Germanic  peoples  into 
the  confines  of  the  empire, 
which  resulted  in  the  fifth 
century  in  their  becoming 
masters  of  its  western 
half. 

ROMAN  Consul  of  aoh  uf  honorius.^^  The  story  of  that  irrup- 

tion becomes  vivid  in  the  time  of  Arcadius  and  Honorius. 
Their  father,  the  great  Theodosius,  had  been  able  to  hold 
1  The  banner  bears  the  legend:   <*  In  the  name  of  Christ  may  you  be 
ever  victorious." 


THE  BARBARIAN  INl^ASIONS,  423 

the  Visigoths  in  check.  But  they  had  become  restive  under 
misrule  comparable  to  that  of  the  American  Indians  by  the 
agents  of  the  United  States  government,  and  were  moreover 
a  body  large  enough  to  be  very  powerful.  A  young  and 
ambitious  chieftain  had  lately  come  to  the  front  among 
them,  Alaric  by  name.  Under  his  lead  the  Visigoths  broke 
loose  from  all  restraint,  and  poured  from  Moesia  and  Thrace 
into  Greece,  which  they  plundered  at  will.  But  in  the 
service  of  Honorius  was  an  able  general,  himself  of 
Germanic  origin,  a  Vandal.  Under  his  leadership  the 
Roman  armies  were  able  to  force  Alaric  out  of  Greece.  He 
turned  into  Italy,  followed  by  Stilicho,  and  in  two  great 
battles  at  Pollentia  and  Verona,  402  and  403  a.d.,  the  Goths 
were  defeated  with  tremendous  slaughter.  In  honor  of 
these  victories  a  magnificent  triumph  was  celebrated  at 
Rome,  in  which  Stilicho  rode  side  by  side  with  his  imperial 
master.  This  triumph  of  404  a.d.  is  notable  as  being  the 
last  one  of  the  long  line  of  similar  celebrations  which  Rome 
was  ever  to  witness  or  for  which  she  was  to  have  occasion. 

Noteworthy  is  also  the  fact  that  it  is  to  a  German  general 
that  the  defeat  of  the  Germanic  invaders  was  due.  And  his 
army,  moreover,  was  doubtless  predominatingly  of  German 
blood.  Rome  had  no  longer  the  strength  nor  the  skill  to 
fight  her  own  battles. 

Radagaisus. — Hardly  was  this  Visigothic  danger  for  the 
time  averted,  when  a  new  peril  threatened.  Another 
agglomeration  of  barbarians — Vandals,  Suevi,  Burgundians, 
and  others — swarmed  over  the  Alps.  This  time  the  danger 
was  more  terrible  than  before.  Alaric  and  his  people  were 
at  least  nominal  Christians,  for  they  had  been  within  the 
empire  for  years,  and  had  felt  its  civilizing  touch;  but 
Radagaisus  and  his  hordes  were  heathen  still.  Again  it  was 
Stilicho  to  the  rescue,  and  in  Tuscany  a  mighty  battle 
brought  deliverance  once  more  to  Rome  (406  a.d.). 

But  the  weakling  emperor  could  not  tolerate  that  his 
servant  Stilicho  should  win  such  honors  and  prove  himself 


424  THE  ROMAN  PEOPLE. 

so  mighty  a  factor  in  the  welfare  of  the  state,  and  the 
princeling  caused  the  soldier  to  be  slain.  Terrible  was  the 
German  revenge  upon  Rome  for  the  death  of  her  great 
Germanic  defender. 

The  Ransom  and  the  Capture  of  Rome. — Alaric  had 
again  recruited  his  forces.  The  Roman  government  by  acts 
of  cruelty  such  as  are  characteristic  of  weak  and  foolish 
statesmanship  had  turned  against  itself  many  of  its  Gothic 
mercenaries;  these  joined  Alaric.  The  result  was  a  fresh 
invasion  of  Italy.  Rome  was  besieged,  and  was  forced  by 
the  horrors  of  famine  to  ask  for  terms.  Never  since  the 
days  of  Hannibal,  six  hundred  years  before,  had  Rome  seen 
hostile  soldiers  at  her  gates.  Finally  terms  of  ransom  were 
agreed  upon  and  the  Goths  departed. 

At  first  the  conqueror  demanded  ;is  the  price  of  his  with- 
drawal :  "  All  the  gold  and  silver  in  the  city,  whether  public  or 
private  property  ;  all  portable  property  of  value;  and  all  slaves 
of  barbarian  origin."  The  Romans  asked,  "  What  will  be  left 
us.'*  "  "Your  lives,"  was  the  answer. 

The  Gothic  chief  was  finally  induced  to  accept  five  thousand 
pounds  of  gold,  thirty  thousand  of  silver,  four  thousand  silken 
robes,  three  thousand  pieces  of  scarlet  cloth,  and  three  thou- 
sand pounds  of  pepper.  The  last  item  suggests  the  scarcity  of 
the  latter  article,  and  the  esteem  in  which  it  was  held.  To 
raise  the  whole  ransom  required  the  most  strenuous  exertions 
on  the  part  of  the  city. 

Alaric  was  again  treated  unwisely  by  the  emperor,  and  the 
blow  fell  upon  Rome.  The  ransom  had  been  effected  in 
409  A.D.  Now  in  410,  just  eight  hundred  years  since  the 
Gauls  under  Brennus  had  sacked  the  eternal  city,  it  was  given 
over  once  more  to  plunder.  Alaric,  as  a  Christian,  bade 
spare  the  churches  and  the  lives  of  the  people.  But  the 
wealth  of  the  city  was  stripped  from  it,  and  for  six  days  and 
nights  the  plunder,  with  its  inevitable  deeds  of  horror,  went 
on. 

From  Rome  Alaric  led  his  hosts  southward,  planning  to  sub- 
due Sicily  and  to  seek  an  empire  in  Africa.  But  death  cut 
short  his  plans  (410  A.D.). 

His  followers  made  their  slaves  turn  aside  the  stream  of  the 


THE  BARBARIAN  INVASIONS. 


425 


Busentinus,  in  southern  Italy.    In  the  bed  of  the  river  the  body 
of  the  chieftain  was  buried,  and  the  stream  restored  to  its  course. 


GALLA    PLACIDIA    AND    HEK    SON    VALENTINIAN    III.    (aBOUT    425    A,D.). 

The  slaves  who  had  done  the  work  were  then  killed,  that  no 
enemy  might  know  the  burial-place  of  the  great  leader. 

The  Barbarians  in  the  Provinces. — The  capture  and  the 
sack  of  Rome  was  but  an  incident  in  a  great  process  going 


426  THE  ROMAN  PEOPLE, 

on  throughout  all  the  western  Roman  empire.  The  hordes 
of  Alaric,  joined  by  others,  moved  out  of  Italy,  and  under 
the  leadership  of  Ataulf  (Adolphus)  crossed  into  Gaul, 
where  they  set  up  what  is  called  the  Visigothic  kingdom. 
They  soon  took  parts  of  Spain  also. 

Meanwhile  another  tribe,  the  Vandals  from  Pannonia, 
moving  in  the  same  general  direction,  settled  for  a  while  in 
Spain,  where  the  district  of  Andalusia  (Vandalusia)  bears 
historic  witness  to  their  sojourn,  and  thence  passed  into 
Africa,  where  they  wrested  the  control  from  the  Romans  and 
set  up  their  own  Vandal  kingdom. 

In  southeastern  France  another  name.  Burgundy,  tells  the 
story  of  still  another  Gothic  people,  who,  as  part  of  the  same 
great  movement,  took  possession  of  that  section. 

Destined  to  endure  longer  than  any  of  these  kingdoms 
already  named,  the  Frankish  kingdom  had  its  origin  in  this 
same  period,  even  earlier. 

But  no  province  suffered  so  severely  from  the  barbarian 
irruption  as  did  Britain.  Britain  had  been  quite  thoroughly 
Romanized.  And  the  native  British  stock,  after  centuries 
of  subjection,  had  become  unable  to  care  for  themselves. 
So  when  in  407  a.d.  Stilicho  had  recalled  the  last  of  the 
Roman  legionaries  from  Britain  for  the  war  against  the 
Goths,  the  Britons  had  been  left  in  pitiable  condition.  For 
the  fierce  savages  from  Caledonia,  beyond  the  Roman  walls, 
now  broke  in,  and  the  British  were  in  danger  of  destruction. 
They  wrote  pitiful  letters  to  the  consul  at  Rome  begging  for 
aid,  which  was  necessarily  withheld. 

They  wrote:  "To  Aetius  the  consul,  the  groans  of  the  Brit- 
ons. The  barbarians  drive  us  to  the  sea,  the  sea  drives  us  back 
to  the  barbarians;  between  them  we  are  either  slain  or  drowned." 

The  helpless  Britons  appealed  to  Saxon  rovers,  whose 
incursions  had  long  been  only  less  dreadful  than  the 
Caledonian  inroads,  to  help  them  against  the  latter.  In  the 
middle  of  the  fifth  century  these  people  came — Angles, 
Jutes,  Saxons — in  ever-increasing  numbers,  at  first  to  help 


THE  BARB  A  RUN  INVASIONS.      •  427 

the  Britons,  and  soon  to  settle  as  their  masters.  Their 
kinsmen  who  had  taken  possession  of  Africa,  Spain,  and 
Gaul  had  been  at  least  half-civilized  and  nominally  Christian. 
But  these'  Germans  of  the  north  were  still  worshippers  of 
Thor  and  Wodin,  and  their  fierce  brutality  went  far  to 
efface  from  Britain  any  traces  of  the  Roman  occupation. 
In  the  other  parts  of  the  empire  the  Teutons  adopted  from 
the  conquered,  institutions,  language,  and  laws  in  large 
mtiasure.  In  Britain  they  were  ruthless  destroyers.  In  this 
fact  is  to  be  found  explanation  of  the  radical  difference 
existing  to-day  between  France  and  England.  The  former 
is  built  upon  a  Latin  basis;  the  latter  upon  one  almost 
wholly  Anglo-Saxon.  At  the  time  this  complete  subversion 
of  most  that  was  Roman  looked  like  an  unmitigated 
calamity.  In  the  course  of  history  it  has  come  to  be  con- 
sidered as  the  very  foundation  of  all  that  is  peculiarly 
English. 

Attila  and  the  Huns. — A  worse  fate  than  had  befallen 
Britain  threatened  Rome  herself  for  a  time.  We  have  already 
caught  a  glimpse  of  the  fierce,  nomadic  Huns,  whose  impact 
had  driven  the  Goths  across  the  Danube  under  Valens  (see 
page  415).  Another  generation  of  these  dreadful  pirates  of 
the  land,  under  Attila,  the  so-called  "Scourge  of  God," 
had  terrorized  the  emperor  of  Constantinople  into  payment 
of  tribute,  and  then  surged  westward  into  Gaul.  But  here 
the  civilized  elements,  Visigoths,  Franks,  Burgundians,  and 
Roman  provincials  under  their  governor  Aetius,  joined  in  a 
final  desperate  effort.  On  the  fateful  field  of  Chalons  (451 
A.D. )  it  is  said  that  from  one  to  three  hundred  thousand  of 
the  seven  hundred  thousand  followers  of  Attila  were  slain. 

But  in  spite  of  this  defeat  the  Huns  were  not  completely 
crushed.  The  following  year  they  were  able  to  enter  Italy 
and  to  ravage  all  the  northern  portion  and  to  plunder  the 
principal  cities.  It  seemed  as  if  Rome  herself  must  undergo 
a  repetition  of  the  experience  she  had  had  with  Alaric  a 
generation  before.     But  Leo,  the  great  bishop  of  Rome,  took 


428 


THE  ROMAN  PEOPLE. 


upon  himself  the  part  of  intercessor  for  his  city  and  people. 
He  pleaded  with  the  Hunnish  chieftain,  and  this,  with  the 
addition  of  a  payment  in  money  from  the  emperor,  induced 
him  to  withdraw.  The  next  year  he  died  and  his  people 
ceased  to  be  a  menace. 


POKTA    NIGRA    AT   TREVES,    THE    ROMAN    CAPITAL   OF    GAUL, 

Venice  owes  her  foundation  to  the  terror  inspired  by 
Attila.  For  it  was  fugitives  from  the  cities  laid  waste  by 
him  who  settled  in  the  lonely  marshes  at  the  upper  end  of 
the  Adriatic.  There,  on  a  site  too  wretched  to  be  worth 
plundering,  they  began,  as  a  refuge  from  the  Scourge  of  God, 


THE  BARBARIAN  INVASIONS.  429 

the  humble  town  which  was  destined  to  become  the  Queen 
of  the  Adriatic  (452  a,d.). 

Gaiseric  and  the  Vandals. — Rome  had  hardly  time  to 
recover  from  the  shock  of  the  Hunnish  invasion  when  she 
was  again  menaced.  This  time  the  peril  was  not  from  the 
north,  but  from  the  south.  Yet  it  was  of  northern  origin. 
For  the  Vandals,  a  Germanic  race  whom  we  have  seen 
moving  through  Spain  and  settling  in  Roman  Africa,  had 
built  up  there  a  strong  maritime  power.  But  they  played 
the  part  of  pirates  rather  than  of  traders.  The  divisions  and 
the  consequent  weakness  of  Rome  marked  her  as  a  prey  for 
these  marauders,  and  in  the  year  455  a.d.  a  Vandal  fleet, 
led  by  their  king  Gaiseric,  sailed  up  the  Tiber  and  moored 
at  the  Roman  piers.  Again  the  Christian  bishop  Leo  tried 
his  persuasions,  and  with  better  hopes  than  in  the  case  of 
Attila,  for  Gaiseric  was  a  Christian,  although  an  Arian.  But 
the  Vandals  were  not  thus  to  be  balked.  They  did  indeed* 
spare  the  lives  of  the  Romans,  but  the  possessions  of  the 
metropolis  were  their  prey.  And  laden  with  these  their 
vessels  sailed  away. 

Among  the  articles  seized  was  the  golden  candlestick  that 
had  once  adorned  the  temple  at  Jerusalem,  and  which  Titus  had 
brought  to  Rome  as  one  of  his  principal  trophies  (seepage  319). 
A  century  later  Justinian  recaptured  it  when  he  overthrew  the 
Vandal  power,  and  carried  it  to  Constantinople.  Justinian  then 
transferred  it  to  Jerusalem.  Its  later  history  is  unknown. 
Probably  it  was  destroyed  by  Moslem  fanaticism. 

The  Last  Emperor  in  Rome. — Province  after  province  had 
thus  been  stripped  from  the  empire  and  had  become  the 
seat  of  a  barbarian  kingdom.  The  capital  itself  had  been 
at  the  mercy  of  Goth,  of  Hun,  and  of  Vandal.  The 
sovereignty  now  remaining  to  the  once  proud  city  was  but  a 
name.  That  name  even  was  fated  to  pass  away.  But  it  is 
noteworthy  that  when  the  climax  of  her  dissolution  came 
and  the  empire  in  the  west  ceased  to  be,  it  was  with  no 
dying  agony  and  spasm  that  the  feeble  life  went  out,  but  so 
quietly  as  hardly  to  attract  notice  at  the  time,  and  it  was 


430  THE  ROMy^N  PEOPLE. 

only  long  after  that  dissolution  that  men  began  to  speak 
of  the  '*  Fall  of  Rome.''  That  so-called  fall  came  on  this 
wise. 

Italy  was  overrun  by  tribe  after  tribe  of  barbarians.  The 
relation  of  the  masters  of  these  people  to  the  imperial  power 
was  singular.  They  treated  it  with  apparent  respect,  and 
seemed  to  consider  themselves  not  as  conquerors,  but  as 
settlers  or  immigrants,  with  a  very  vital  interest  indeed  in 
affairs  of  state,  but  not  yet  presuming  to  take  the  govern- 
ment absolutely  into  their  own  hands.  From  456  to  472 
A.D.  a  chieftain  of  the  Suevi,  named  Ricimer,  was  the  power 
behind  the  throne.  And  like  Warwick,  the  **  king-maker  " 
in  England,  he  set  up  emperors  at  will.  After  him  a 
Pannonian,  Orestes,  made  his  child  of  six,  who  bore  the 
significant  name  of  Romulus  Augustulus,  the  wearer  of  the 
.purple.  Orestes  was  the  commander-in-chief  of  the  armies. 
His  act  was  the  last  instance  of  the  Roman  forces  making 
their  nominee  emperor  of  Rome,  and  Augustulus  was  the 
last  emperor  in  the  west. 

Odoacer,  or  Odovakar,  the  leader  of  the  Heruli,  one  of 
many  tribes  found  in  Italy  at  this  time,  finding  Orestes  and 
his  son  not  disposed  to  grant  all  the  demands  of  his  people, 
made  up  his  mind  to  put  an  end  to  the  farce.  He  accord- 
ingly killed  Orestes  and  dethroned  the  boy  emperor.  Yet 
he  himself,  so  far  from  assuming  the  vacant  place,  refrained 
even  from  the  use  of  the  purple  and  the  diadem  to  which 
his  position  as  king  among  his  own  people  entitled  him. 
Romulus  resigned  to  the  senate  of  Rome,  and  that  body 
wrote  to  the  emperor  at  Constantinople  the  following 
message:  they  **  disclaim  the  necessity,  or  even  the  wish,  of 
continuing  any  longer  the  imperial  succession  in  Italy; 
since,  in  their  opinion,  the  majesty  of  a  sole  monarch  is 
sufficient  to  pervade  and  protect  at  the  same  time  both  the 
east  and  the  west.  In  their  own  name,  and  in  the  name  of 
the  people,  they  consent  that  the  seat  of  universal  empire 
shall  be  transferred  from  Rome  to  Constantinople;  and  they 


THE  BARBARIAN  INVASIONS. 


431 


renounce  the  right  of  choosing  their  own  master.  The 
republic  might  safely  confide  in  the  civil  and  military  virtues 
of  Odoacer;  and  they  humbly  request  that  the  emperor 
would  invest  him  with  the  title  of  Patrician  and  the  admin- 
istration of  the  diocese  of  Italy." 


BRONZE    LAMP   AND    IMPLEMENTS    FOR    TRIMMING. 


Such  language  as  this  shows  only  too  clearly  how  little 
vitality  was  left  in  the  empire  on  its  Roman  side;  and  with 
equal  clearness  it  discloses  the  view  which  both  Roman  and 
barbarian  took  of  the  change  in  conditions.     Neither  party 


432  THE  ROMAN  PEOPLE. 

thought  of  the  Roman  empire  as  broken  up,  or  as  in  any 
sense  ceasing  to  exist  in  the  west.  The  barbarians  were 
modest  enough  to  recognize  their  inferiority  to  the  Romans 
in  culture;  and  while  they  could  not  fail  to  recognize  that 
Italy  was  effete  politically,  they  still  looked  with  a  deep 
reverence  upon  the  majesty  of  the  Roman  name  and  tradi- 
tion, and  were  not  at  once  ready  to  disclaim  all  political 
subjection  to  the  great  organism  which  for  half  a  millennium 
had  been  able  to  keep  the  barbarian  world  under  its  control. 
Moreover,  the  empire  to  them  seemed  one,  and  although  the 
western  half  had  abjectly  surrendered  to  them,  they  still  saw 
in  Constantinople  the  depositary  of  that, power  before  which 
their  fathers  for  centuries  had  trembled.  Therefore  for  the 
time,  at  least,  they  regarded  themselves,  certainly  in  Italy, 
rather  as  new  citizens  requiring  so  ne  modifications  of  the 
old  system  than  as  conquerors  who  were  to  sweep  that 
system  entirely  out  of  existence. 

Causes  of  the  Disintegration. — It  is  easy  to  assign  many 
reasons  for  the  decay  of  the  western  empire.  The  deteriora- 
tion from  the  great  days  of  republican  simplicity  and  civic 
pride  and  patriotism,  and  from  the  administrative  ability  of 
the  empire  at  its  best,  is  perfectly  obvious.  The  sources  of 
this  deterioration  are  also  many  of  them  perfectly  obvious. 
At  the  same  time  we  are  faced  by  the  perplexing  problem, 
Why  did  not  the  same  causes  produce  a  similar  disintegration 
in  the  eastern  section  of  the  empire,  where,  to  all  appearance, 
they  were  equally  operative  .?  To  this  we  can  only  answer 
that  they  happened  to  accumulate  in  just  such  a  way  and  at 
just  such  a  time  in  the  west  as  to  produce  their  full  logical 
•result,  while  in  the  east  some  happy  accidents  contributed 
to  prevent  their  full  force  being  felt  at  any  one  period.  And 
so  the  Byzantine  empire  was  spared  for  a  thousand  years  to 
subserve  a  highly  important  mission  to  civilization.  But  it 
is  well  to  review  certain  of  the  recognized  causes  which  did 
underlie  the  complete  disintegration  of  the  western  half  of 
the  empire. 


THE  BARB/iRlAN  INVASIONS.  433 

Political  Causes. — The  republic  fell  because  it  failed  to 
govern  justly.  And  the  root  of  the  injustice  lay  in  the  fact 
that  the  theory  was  tacitly  accepted  that  the  government 
existed  for  the  sake  of  the  governing  class  and  not  for  the 
sake  of  the  governed.  Such  a  mistake  is  always  radical  and 
fatal.      It  killed  the  republic. 

Under  Julius  and  Augustus,  as  under  the  Antonines,  a 
better  view  prevailed.  Hence,  as  has  been  said,  probably 
the  Mediterranean  world  was  never  better  governed  than  in 
the  second  century  after  Christ.  But  these  conditions  did 
not  last.  The  empire  became  the  spoil  and  the  prey  of 
militarism.  And  the  rule  of  the  soldiery  elevated  to  power 
merely  a  series  of  temporary  victors,  and  not  men  of  wise 
and  unselfish  statesmanship.  That  a  man  can  subdue  his 
rivals  or  even  the  enemies  of  the  state  gives  no  assurance 
that  he  can  lead  a  people  in  the  paths  of  peaceful  prosperity. 
And  so  a  line  of  tyrants  and  weaklings  (the  terms  are  often 
convertible)  sat  in  the  palace  of  the  Caesars  and  worked 
their  fatal  mischief. 

The  recent  story  of  the  empire  has  shown  us  that  these 
tyrant  weaklings  were  often  jealous  of  their  best  soldiers  and 
administrators.  Honorius's  execution  of  Stilicho  is  a  strik- 
ing example.  Thus  the  best  ability  of  the  people  was  kept 
out  of  power,  and  the  worst  element  ruled. 

The  total  lack  of  a  representative  system,  and  the  principle 
of  centralization  in  government,  was  another  fault.  It  is 
true  that  representation  was  yet  far  in  the  future,  but  some 
measure  of  home  rule  might  have  served  to  strengthen  the 
outlying  portions  of  the  state,  and  to  knit  the  whole  body 
politic  into  a  contented  whole  which  could  have  absorbed 
and  assimilated  the  barbarians  without  convulsive  change. 
It  is  true  that  the  municipalities  of  the  empire  had  home 
government;  but  no  province  had  it,  all  the  provinces  being 
directly  administered  from  the  capital,  just  as  France  was 
governed  under  the  Bourbons. 

Another  cause  that  may  be  assigned  a  place  under  this 


434  THE  ROMAN  PEOPLE. 

head  is  the  want  of  unity  between  the  east  and  the  west. 
There  had  come  to  be  a  Greek  half  and  a  Latin  half  of  the 
empire,  and  the  one  was  unable  to  reinforce  the  other. 
They  were  nominally  one,  yet  the  racial  difference  was  so 
great  that  it  served  to  prevent  community  of  interest  and 
feeling. 

Among  the  barbarians,  also,  there  was  a  development 
which  may  be  called  a  political  cause  of  the  catastrophe  we 
are  studying.  That  is  the  advance  of  the  Germans  them- 
selves in  organization.  At  an  earlier  stage  they  had  had 
little  more  organization  than  our  rudest  American  Indians. 
Now  they  had  become  united  into  much  larger  aggregations, 
and  had  developed  among  themselves  leaders  of  considerable 
ability.  And  among  these  semi-nationalized  units  there'had 
grown  up  great  confederations.  We  speak  of  these  people 
as  barbarians.  But  it  needs  to  be  steadily  held  in  mind 
that  by  the  fifth  century  they  were  well  along  the  road  to 
civilization.  They  had  borrowed  most  of  its  simpler  ele- 
ments from  the  Romans  themselves.  They  were  not 
heathen,  moreover,  most  of  them,  but  Christianized  before 
they  entered  the  empire.  When  to  their  advanced  condi- 
tion is  added  the  force  of  their  numbers,  it  will  be  seen  that 
the  empire  had  no  mean  foe  to  contend  with. 

Social  and  Economic  Causes. — It  is  difficult  to  separate 
these  two  sets  of  causes. 

First  may  be  placed  the  serious  decline  in  population. 
Augustus  had  felt  the  peril  of  this  and  had  vainly  exerted 
himself  against  it.  But  the  evil  became  far  more  serious 
after  his  time.  Not  only  was  the  reluctance  to  marry  on 
the  part  of  the  Romans  a  continuing  factor,  but  it  was 
increased  by  the  spirit  of  Christian  asceticism,  which  put  a 
premium  upon  celibacy.  In  the  second  century  after  Christ 
the  great  series  of  pestilences  began  to  decimate  the  popula- 
tion. And  when  to  these  causes  is  added  the  constant  toll 
upon  numbers  demanded  by  the  god  of  war,  and  the  effect 
of  increasing  difficulty  in  making  a  living,  one  can  under- 


THE  BARBARtAhl  INVASIONS.  435 

stand  why  the  population  so  steadily  declined.  While  this 
was  true  on  the  Roman  side,  the  opposite  was  the  case  with 
the  Teutonic  peoples.  Their  respect  and  love  for  family 
life,  their  freedom  from  the  gross  vices  of  cities,  the  fact  that 
they  were  continually  advancing  in  the  scale  of  living,  all 
contributed  to  their  increase.  And  from  the  vast  reservoir 
of  central  and  eastern  Europe  there  was  always  a  fresh 
supply  of  them  to  add  to  the  numbers  already  on  the 
frontiers,  or  within  the  borders  of  the  empire. 

Another  cause  of  weakness  to  the  Romans  was  their  caste 
system,  which  destroyed  the  ambition  of  the  individual,  and 
made  life  monotonous  and  hopeless,  somewhat  as  in  India 
to-day,  for  the  average  man.  What  a  man  was  born,  that 
he  must  continue  to  be;  if  his  father  was  sailor  or  carpenter, 
he  must  be  the  same. 

Very  prominent  among  these  economic  causes  must  be 
placed  slavery.  Slavery  then  was  quite  different  from  the 
recent  slavery  of  America.  Here  it  was  the  holding  in 
bondage  of  a  race  inferior  to  the  masters  and  of  another 
color.  The  American  slave  could  not  be  mistaken  for  one 
of  the  dominant  race.  The  slavery  of  the  empire  degraded 
men  of  the  same  race  and  the  same  natural  ability  as  the 
masters.  .  And  degrading  the  servant,  it  degraded  the  master 
too,  all  the  more  when  by  nature  they  were  so  much  alike. 
And  when  in  the  slave  class  were  to  be  found,  as  we  have 
seen,  many  if  not  most  of  the  skilled  artisans,  and  even  of 
what  we  to-day  count  professional  men,  it  will  readily  be 
perceived  that  a  badge  of  disgrace  was  set  upon  nearly  every 
form  of  honest  and  remunerative  toil,  and  thus  there  was 
inevitably  developed  among  the  freemen  a  class  that  must 
have  corresponded  closely  to  our  "  poor  whites."  Slavery 
also  is  the  most  expensive  form  of  labor  that  can  be 
employed.  It  seems  cheap,  but  is  in  reality  of  ruinous  cost. 
For  the  slave  will  in  the  nature  of  things  work  lethargically 
and  live  wastefully. 

It  is  almost   needless  to  remark  upon  the   entire   lack 


436  THE  ROMAN  PEOPLE. 

among   the    Romans  of   any   adequate  industrial   life   and 
organization. 

Taxation  might  have  been  included  among  the  political 
causes.  But  it  has  place  here  as  well.  Lactantius,  writing 
in  the  fourth  century,  says,  probably  with  much  exaggeration, 
that  there  were  more  persons  to  collect  than  to  pay  the  taxes. 
Absolutely  they  did  not  amount  to  so  much  as  many 
modern  states  collect  per  capita.  But  in  comparison  with 
diminishing  resources  they  constituted  a  crushing  burden, 
and  the  struggling  swimmer  in  the  rough  waves  of  those 
times  could  never  get  his  head  fairly  above  water  and  draw 
a  generous  breath,  before  the  weight  of  taxation  about  his 
neck  forced  him  under  once  more  and  all  but  strangled  him. 
Progress  under  such  conditions  was  impossible. 

Aggravating  the  financial  distress  was  the  scarcity  and  the 
debasement  of  the  coinage. 

Military  Causes. — From  what  has  been  already  said  it  is 
easy  to  perceive  what  must  have  been  the  military  difficulties 
of  the  empire.  Her  own  resources,  both  of  men  and  of 
money,  were  steadily  declining.  Recruiting  was  done 
almost  entirely  from  among  the  very  barbarian  peoples  who 
were  to  be  the  chief  enemies  of  the  empire.  A  Goth  would 
serve  his  term  in  the  imperial  armies,  and  then  go  back  to 
his  own  people,  knowing  all  the  military  resources  and 
methods  of  the  Romans.  Consequently  the  Germanic  forces 
were  in  no  wise  inferior  to  the  imperial  in  training,  equip- 
ment, and  least  of  all  in  numbers.  It  has  been  pointed  out 
that  while  in  modern  times  there  is  constant  improvement 
in  weapons,  and  thus  the  higher  peoples  can  always  keep  in 
advance  of  the  less  civilized,  in  the  times  we  are  studying 
there  was  no  improvement  from  century  to  century,  and  the 
Romans  therefore  were  not  one  whit  ahead  of  their  dangerous 
foes  in  the  construction  or  use  of  weapons. 

Moral  and  Religious  Causes. — Volumes  have  been 
written  upon  the  moral  degeneracy  of  the  later  empire. 
But  a  people  are  never  degenerate  as  a  whole.     Undoubtedly 


THE  BARBARIAN  INVASIONS. 


437 


'VINI^COM"  DOMESTIC  EQV  1' 
ETCONS 


there  was  much  corruption,  especially  in  the  capital,  but  the 
history  of  the  fourth  century  shows  us,  especially  in  the 
provinces  and  among  the  pagans,  a  wholesome  morality  and 
a  delightful  family  life  that  does  not  fit  in  at  all  with  the 
commonly  received  views  of  the  universal  degradation.  The 
mother  city  herself  was 
the  chief  sufferer  from 
immorality,  but  this  can- 
not account  for  the 
downfall  of  half  the  em- 
pire, any  more  than  the 
fact  that  the  Roman 
populace  received  free 
bread  and  free  shows  can 
be  accepted  as  a  degrad- 
ing fact  affecting  the 
empire  as  a  whole.  Such 
degradation  and  such 
immorality  were  largely 
local.  The  city  of  Rome 
was  not  the  empire  any 
more  than  Paris  is 
France,  or  New  York  the 
United  States. 

As  to  religion,  there 
are  two  things  to  be 
thought  of.  Paganism 
was  of  course  on  the 
decline.  And  many  who 
were  not  yet  ready  to 
accept  Christianity  had 
lost  all  real  faith  in  their  old  doctrines.  And  a  nation 
without  positive  religious  beliefs  is  never  a  virile  nation. 
Rome  was  weak,  then,  at  this  point.  The  influence  of 
Christianity  was  both  positive  and  negative.  Negatively  it 
frowned  upon  much  that  was  considered  of  the  essence  of 


CONSULAR    COSTUME    OF   THE    LATER    EMPIRE. 


43^  THE  ROMAN  PEOPLE. 

patriotism.  It  has  been  asserted  that  it  kept  men  out  of  the 
army,  but  this  ought  to  have  been  as  operative  among  the 
barbarians  as  among  the  Romans,  and  can  be  neglected. 
Positively  Christianity  must  have  been  a  salutary  influence. 

On  the  whole,  then,  it  would  seem  that  moral  and  religious 
questions  had  less  to  do  with  the  disintegration  of  the 
western  empire  than  had  the  political,  social,  and  economic 
causes. 

Christianity  in  the  Fifth  Century. — The  one  region  of 
life  where  there  was  vitality  and  growth  in  this  dismal  time 
was  the  Christian  Church.  The  fifth  century  was  the  time 
when  it  emerged  into  prominence  as  a  powerful  force  in  the 
body  politic.  A  group  of  great  men  make  the  annals  of  the 
Church  glorious.  In  Constantinople  was  the  great  preacher 
John  Chrysostom,  or  the  "  golden  mouth,"  whose  profound 
piety  and  fiery  oratory  made  him  the  arbiter  of  morals  in  a 
court  that  sorely  needed  supervision.      (Died  407  a.d.) 

A  generation  later  came  Augustine.  First  a  teacher  of 
rhetoric,  and  dissolute  in  life,  he  then  embraced  a  heretical 
form  of  Christianity,  but  subsequently  became  an  orthodox 
Christian,  and  was  made  bishop  of  Hippo  in  Africa.  The 
troubles  of  the  empire  with  Goth  and  Vandal  led  to  the 
writing  of  his  immortal  work,  The  City  0/  God,  in  which  he 
pointed  out  that  while  earthly  capitals  may  be  devastated 
there  is  a  heavenly  city  which  is  eternal.  He  also  became 
the  great  constructive  theologian  of  the  Latin  Church,  and 
his  thought  still  controls  Roman  Catholic  theology,  and 
much  of  Protestant  thinking  as  well. 

Leo,  the  great  bishop  of  Rome,  has  already  appeared  in 
this  story.  What  a  Roman  emperor  could  not  do  the 
Roman  bishop  did.  Attila  and  Gaiseric,  heathen  and 
heretic,  both  bowed  in  reverence  to  his  entreaties. 

The  political  misfortunes  of  the  state  therefore  were  in  a 
sense  the  fortune  of  the  Church,  and  especially  of  the  papacy. 
It  is  hardly  correct  yet  to  speak  of  a  papacy  at  this  period, 
for  such  an  idea  was  still  in  the  future.     But  the  germs  of 


THE  BARBARIAN  INVASIONS.  439 

the  enormous  power  of  the  Roman  bishops  were  already 
sprouting.  And  while  Rome  declined  politically,  she  rose 
as  a  religious  centre.  The  removal  of  the  emperor's 
residence  from  Rome  to  Milan  or  Ravenna,  and  finally  the 
cessation  of  the  imperial  office  in  the  west  altogether,  led  to 
the  bishop  of  Rome  becoming  the  leading  citizen  in  the  old 
capital.  And  there  has  always  been  a  glamour  about  the 
name  of  Rome.  A  mystic  power  has  seemed  to  be  in  and 
of  her.  And  even  the  barbarians,  while  they  nO  longer  saw 
in  Capitol  and  Forum  the  seat  of  majesty,  yet  reverenced 
the  Eternal  City,  and  Roman  provincial  and  Gothic  conqueror 
came  to  look  upon  the  bishop  of  Rome  rather  than  the 
emperor  of  Rome  as  the  centre  of  unity  for  the  west. 

PARALLEL   READING. 

Gibbon cc.  xxix-xxxvi. 

Hodgkin Italy  and  her  Invaders,  Vols.  I  and  il  ;  The 

Dynasty  of  T/iendosius. 
Emerton,  E Introduction  to  the  Study  of  the  Middle  Ages, 

cc.  ii,  iii. 
Adams,  G.  B Civilization  during  the  Middle  Ages,  c.  iv. 

cc.  xxi. 

Seeley,  J.  R I\oma?t  Imperialism,  Lect.  II. 

Dill,  S Roman  Society  in  the  Last  Century  of  the 

Westerfi  Empire. 

Millman History  of  Christianity,  Vol.  III. 

Curteis,  A.  M History  of  the  Koman  Empire  fro7n  Theo- 

dosius  to  Charlemagne,  cc.  vi-ix. 
Freeman,  E.  A Three  Chief  Periods  of  European  History, 

Lect.  III. 


CHAPTER  XXIX. 
THE    TEUTONIC    KINGDOMS. 

The  New  Factor  in  Roman  Life. — While  the  story  of  tljs 
empire  in  the  west  is  commonly  regarded  as  ending  with  the 
year  476  a.d.,  that  of  the  so-called  fall  of  Rome,  yet  the 
eastern  section  of  the  empire  remained  and  regarded  itself, 
and  was  regarded  in  the  west,  as  preserving  all  the  sov- 
ereignty and  majesty  of  the  undivided  empire.  So  the  story 
is  not  yet  over  for  a  thousand  years. 

In  the  western  sections,  moreover,  though  the  Teutons 
had  wrenched  large  regions  from  the  integrity  of  the  empire, 
it  is  doubtful  whether  they  were  more  in  number  than  the 
provincial  Romans  of  the  conquered  districts.  Most  likely 
they  were  much  fewer.  Thus,  though  the  history  of  the 
Roman  empire  in  the  west  is  broken  here,  yet  the  life  of  the 
Roman  people  goes  on.  The  Latin  language,  the  Roman 
law,  the  whole  civilization  which  had  developed  under 
centuries  of  Roman  rule  goes  on.  There  is  a  change  of 
masters  indeed;  but  often  it  is  a  change  for  the  better.  And 
the  Teutonic  ruler  brings  the  peace  and  consequent  pros- 
perity which  the  Roman  office-holder  had  not  given  for 
many  a  long  year.  At  first  the  Roman  lives  under  Roman 
law  and  the  Teuton  under  his  Germanic  law.  It  is  long 
before  the  two  systems  blend;  just  as  it  is  long  before  the 
Latin  and  the  language  of  the  invaders  blend  to  form  a  new 
tongue  compounded  of  both. 

In  all   southwestern   Europe  the  Roman  populace,   the 

440 


THE   TEUTONIC  KINGDOMS.  441 

Roman  institutions,  form  the  base;  the  Teutonic  is  the 
admixture.  These  Germans  bring  with  them,  in  addition 
to  their  physical  presence  and  prowess,  many  institutions 
which  are  to  blend  with  and  be  a  helpful  addition  to  the 
older. 

The  Germania  of  Tacitus  gives  us  our  best  notion  of  what 
the  German  of  the  first  century  was.  By  the  fifth  century, 
most  of  them  had  made  considerable  progress  from  that 
primitive  state,  notably  in  the  matter  of  religion.  For  many 
of  them  were  now  Christians,  even  though  in  the  heretical 
and  Arian  form.  But  they  had  retained  and  they  gave  to 
their  new  surroundings  certain  marked  qualities  and  customs 
which  were  of  priceless  value. 

They  had  their  vices,  notably  drinking  and  gaming,  but 
compared  with  the  conquered  Romans  certain  virtues  were 
theirs  also  which  count  for  much  in  the  formation  of  com- 
munities. They  were  especially  worthy  on  the  side  of  the 
family  life  and  the  love  of  home,  while  in  this  regard  the 
Romans  had  been  lamentably  lacking.  We  have  already 
noticed  this  as  one  element  of  Rome's  weakness. 

On  the  political  side  the  German  has  much  to  contribute, 
and  it  is  his  offering  that  is  about  to  furnish  the  germ  out 
of  which  is  to  grow  the  advanced  constitutional  development 
of  western  Europe.  With  the  Roman,  as  with  the  Greek, 
the  individual  had  been  subordinated  to  the  state.  With 
the  German  the  individual  is  first.  The  state  exists  for  him, 
not  he  for  the  state.  Not  for  long  is  it  possible  for  despotism 
to  flourish  where  there  is  a  large  strain  of  Germanic  blood. 
Again,  the  German  brings  with  him  a  monarchy  indeed,  but 
it  is  far  from  absolute.  The  elective  principle  controls. 
The  king  is  chosen  because  of  his  ability.  '*  The  king  is 
the  man  who  can."  The  elective  principle  had  totally  dis- 
appeared under  the  system  of  Diocletian  and  Constantine. 
The  Germans  bring  it  back.  And  a  third  political  contribu- 
tion of  theirs  is  the  germ  of  the  representative  system  found 
in  their  puoiic  assemblies,  national  and  local. 


442  THE  ROMAN  PEOPLE. 

With  these  preliminary  remarks  about  the  Germanic 
peoples  in  general,  and  remembering  that  we  are  still  going 
on  to  study  the  development  of  the  Roman  people — with 
the  Germanic  addition,  indeed — until  the  time  when  the 
effort  is  made  to  reconstitute  the  western  empire  under 
Charlemagne,  it  will  be  in  place  to  note  the  organization 
and  early  progress  of  the  different  kingdoms  which  were 
organized  by  Germanic  peoples  among  the  ruins  of  the 
western  empire. 

The  Vandals. — Starting  from  the  same  mysterious  centre 
beyond  the  Danube  from  which  so  many  kindred  tribes 
came  forth,  these  people  in  the  first  decade  of  the  fifth  cen- 
tury crossed  the  Rhine.  We  have  already  traced  their  slow 
progress  through  Spain,  and  their  settlement  in  northern 
Africa.  From  this  as  their  base  they  had  terrorized  the 
Mediterranean,  and  even  taken  Rome  itself.  They  seemed 
less  susceptible  of  taking  on  the  refinements  of  their  subjects 
than  did  the  other  Germanic  peoples.  They  were  Arians 
and  bitter  persecutors  of  the  orthodox.  And  by  this  mad- 
ness of  theirs  they  wrought  their  own  undoing.  For  the 
great  Justinian,  emperor  at  Constantinople  from  527  a.d., 
in  response  to  the  frantic  appeals  of  the  orthodox  Africans 
sent  Belisarius  to  their  aid,  and  completely  overthrew  the 
Vandal  power.  Once  more  Africa  was  within  the  unity  of 
the  empire.  But  a  worse  thing  than  Vandal  Arianism  was 
in  store  for  it.  A  century  later  the  Moslem  hordes  swept 
over  it,  and  Arian  and  orthodox  alike  were  overwhelmed 
before  the  new  faith,  and  a  new  empire  took  the  place  of 
the  Roman. 

The  Visigoths. — These  people,  after  the  death  of  Alaric, 
passed  westward,  and  took  possession  of  much  of  Gaul  and 
Spain.  Here  under  Euric  (476-485  a.d.),  who  had  the 
sanction  of  Odoacer,  they  became  strong  and  celebrated. 
But  the  same  fate  befell  them  as  had  overtaken  the  Vandals. 
In  711  A.D.  the  vanguard  of  the  Mohammedan  forces  crossed 
the  Strait  of  Gibraltar,  and  within  a  few  years  the  Visigothic 


EUROPE 

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E.  F.   FISK,  ENGR.,  N.Y.  | 

THE   TEUTONIC  KINGDOMS.  443 

name  had  perished,  and  not  until  1492  a.d.  were  the 
Moslems  driven  from  power  in  that  quarter  of  Europe. 

The  Burgundians. — Less  than  a  century  tells  the  story 
of  the  independent  existence  of  the  early  Burgundian  nation 
(443-534  A.D.).  For  they  were  finally  absorbed  by  the  great 
Frankish  monarchy,  the  one  government  which  was  destined 
to  endure  among  all  these  Teutonic  nations. 

The  Franks. — Soon  after  300  a.d.  a  group  of  Teutons 
who  called  themselves  Franks  had  taken  possession  of  parts 
of  Gaul.  They  had  been  constantly  growing  in  power,  and 
the  Salian  branch  had  secured  the  preeminence.  One  of  the 
chieftains  of  this  branch,  Clovis  (Chlodwig,  modern  Louis), 
became  the  first  great  king  among  them,  and  distinguished 
himself  by  successive  conquets.  He  first  conceived  the  idea 
of  displacing  the  Roman  power  in  Gaul,  and  in  486  a.d. 
defeated  the  Roman  governor  Syagrius  in  the  great  battle 
of  Soissons. 

After  this  battle  there  was  to  be  a  division  of  the  booty. 
Clovis  wished  to  retain  from  the  common  distribution  a  beau- 
tiful vase  for  himself,  but  an  indignant  warrior,  with  charac- 
teristic German  spirit,  dashed  it  into  fragments  with  his  battle- 
axe  rather  than  let  the  king  take  so  rich  a  share  as  royal 
prerogative.  Some  time  later  the  king  at  a  review,  finding  fault 
with  this  independent  subject,  cleft  his  head,  saying,  "  Thus 
didst  thou  to  the  vase  at  Soissons." 

War  with  the  Alemanni  followed.  Theee  were  a  kindred 
people  to  the  Franks  and  jealous  rivals.  Not  far  from 
Cologne  the  decisive  battle  was  fought  which  made  the 
Franks  the  victors.  And  this  battle  is  noteworthy  also  for 
another  weighty  reason.  It  was  reputed  to  be  the  occasion 
of  the  conversion  of  Clovis.  A  pagan  hitherto,  on  the  field 
of  battle,  when  hard  pressed  by  the  Alemanni,  he  vowed  to 
the  God  of  the  Christians  that  if  victory  were  only  his,  he 
would  become  a  Christian.  He  won  the  battle,  and  kept 
his  vow.  His  wife  was  already  a  Christian,  and  an  orthodox 
Christian.  Clovis  naturally  followed  her  leading,  and  thus 
it  came  about  that  the  great  Frankish   people  embraced 


444  THE  ROMAN  PEOPLE. 

orthodox  Christianity  rather  than  the  Arian  form  which  had 
been  adopted  by  most  of  their  race.  This  orthodoxy  of  the 
Frankish  people  and  monarchy  was  productive  of  the  most 
important  consequences,  as  we  shall  see,  in  the  future  rela- 
tions of  that  monarchy  and  the  Roman  Church. 

Subsequent  campaigns  gave  him  control  over  Burgundy 
and  over  nearly  all  of  the  Visigothic  possessions  in  Gaul. 
To  him,  therefore,  are  to  be  definitely  traced  the  foundations 
of  Frankish  greatness.  But  it  must  not  be  forgotten,  when 
thinking  of  the  origins  of  the  French  people,  how  much  is 
owing  to  the  fine  Gallo-Roman  civilization  which  Clovis  and 
his  ancestors  found.  For  at  the  time  of  the  extinction  of 
the  western  empire  Gaul  was  probably  more  truly  represen- 
tative of  the  better  parts  of  the  old  Roman  culture  than  was 
Italy  itself.  On  these  foundations,  though  unable  for  many 
centuries  to  use  them  in  all  their  length  and  breadth,  the 
Franks  built  their  structure. 

The  royal  house  of  Clovis  is  known  as  the  Merovingian, 
from  a  mythical  ancestor,  Merovaeus  or  Merowig.  It  held 
the  Frankish  throne  for  a  century  and  more  after  Clovis's 
death,  and  then  fades  out  of  sight  in  a  way  that  will  be  told 
later  on. 

The  Ostrogoths  (493-554  a.d.). — Our  last  glance  at  Italy 
showed  us  the  patrician  Odoacer,  a  leader  of  the  Heruli,  as 
the  arbiter  of  affairs.  But  a  greater  than  he,  and  greater  folk 
than  the  Heruli,  now  appear  upon  the  scene  and  take 
control. 

The  Ostrogoths  tarried  in  eastern  Europe  nearly  a  century 
longer  than  the  Visigoths.  They  were  the  dread  and  yet  the 
dependence  of  the  eastern  empire.  For  they  served  the 
court  of  Constantinople  as  mercenaries  who  were  always 
ready  to  revolt. 

One  of  their  kings,  named  Theodoric,  had  been  educated 
at  Constantinople,  and  there  absorbed  many  of  the  ideas  and 
refinements  of  the  capital.  But  his  tastes  were  rude  and 
warlike,  and  he  was  glad  to  join  his  people  once  more,  and 


THE   TEUTONIC  KINGDOMS. 


445 


by  doughty  deeds  to  win  renown  among  them.  He  was 
commissioned  by  the  emperor  Zeno  to  defend  for  him  the 
Danubian  lands,  and  was  given  the  title  of  patrician  and 
consul.  The  fatal  folly  of  the  empire  allowed  him  to  be 
treated  with  neglect.  Rebellion,  then  reconciliation  fol- 
lowed.     Finally  he  was,  at  his  own  request,  entrusted  with 


CHURCH    OF   S.    APOLLINARE    IN   CLASSK,    RAVENNA. 

(Built  by  Theodoric.) 

the  project  of  reconquering  Italy  for  the  empire.  This  he 
undertook  in  493  a.d.  For  a  time  he  pretended  to  share 
with  Odoacer  the  sovereignty  of  the  peninsula,  but  presently 
slew  his  colleague.  From  this  time  onwards  he  ruled  Italy 
better  than  she  had  been  ruled  for  generations.  His  relation 
to  the  emperor  was  ill  defined.  But  he  treated  him  prac- 
tically as  an  equal,  and  considered  himself  as  within  the 
empire.  His  sway  extended  for  a  time  from  Illyricum  to 
the  Atlantic  Ocean.  In  many  ways  the  western  empire 
seemed  to  be  restored  again.  He  was  very  anxious  to  retain, 
at  least  among  his  Roman  subjects,  as  much  of  the  ancient 
life  as  possible.  His  court  was  like  that  of  the  later 
emperors  of  Rome.  He  respected  and  adapted  to  his  own 
uses  the  Roman   law.     Himself  an  Arian,   he  treated  his 


446 


THE  ROMAN  PEOPLE. 


orthodox  subjects  with  far  more  toleration  than  they  had 
reason  to  expect  from  a  heretic.  Taken  altogether  his  reign 
seems  in  many  respects  a  reflection  or  afterglow  of  some  of 
the  best  periods  of  the  empire.  But  its  close  was  gloomy. 
For  he  grew  jealous  and  cruel.  After  his  death  in  527  a.d., 
his  kingdom,  which  had  been  built  mainly  upon  his  personal 
good  qualities,  fell  into  unworthy  hands,  and  in  554  a.d.  was 
recovered  by  Belisarius,  the  conqueror  of  the  Vandals,  for 
his  master  Justinian,  the  eastern  emperor. 


TOMB   OF  TTHKODORIC,   RAVENNA. 


The  Lombards  (568-774  a.d.). — But  the  cup  of  trouble 
had  not  yet  been  drained  by  wretched  Italy.  The  land 
which  in  bygone  centuries  had  sent  her  conquering  legions 
into  all  quarters  of  the  world  seemed  destined  to  be  harried 
in  turn  by  conquerors  from  almost  as  many  regions.      Hun, 


THE   TEUTONIC  KINGDOMS.  447 

Goth,  Vandal,  and  Greek  had  humiliated  her.  Still  another 
foe  was  at  hand.  From  central  Europe  once  more  the 
invaders  came.  This  time,  only  eleven  years  after  the  con- 
quest of  Belisarius,  it  was  the  Lombards  who  took  their  turn 
at  invasion,  and  their  share  of  plunder.  At  first  their  Arian 
heresy,  more  hostile  than  that  of  Theodoric,  made  trouble 
for  the  Catholic  Church,  but  toward  the  opening  of  the 
seventh  century  they  accepted  orthodoxy,  and  from  that  time 
on  their  difficulties  with  the  popes  were  rather  political  than 
ecclesiastical.  Their  kingdom  lasted  until  it  was  overthrown 
in  774  A.D.  by  Charlemagne.  Their  name  remains  in  the 
geographical  designation  of  northern  Italy,  Lombardy,  and 
their  blood  still  makes  itself  manifest  as  one  finds  in  that 
region  the  light  hair  and  the  blue  eyes  which  bespeak  the 
strong  Teutonic  influence. 

Other  Teutonic  Tribes. — We  have  seen  that  Britain  was 
the  first  of  the  Roman  provinces  to  be  shorn  away  from  the 
empire.  And  as  it  never  henceforth,  even  nominally,  is 
restored  to  that  empire,  and  inasmuch  as  the  Anglo-Saxons 
so  thoroughly  rid  themselves  of  all  Roman  influence  in  the 
island,  it  ceases  to  fall  directly  within  the  scope  of  this  work. 
While  this  is  true  politically,  it  will  be  found  later  that  the 
circle  of  religious  unity  which  had  its  centre  at  Rome,  and 
which  in  many  ways  was  a  resultant  of  the  older  political 
unity,  still  includes  Britain.  It  is  sufficient  here  to  remark 
that  the  various  Saxon  tribes  divide  the  island  between  them, 
until  Egbert,  the  political  pupil  of  Charlemagne,  succeeds 
in  making  himself  the  first  king  of  England  as  a  whole 
(802  A.D.). 

Outside  the  northern  limits  of  the  empire  there  were  still 
countless  hosts  of  Teutonic  peoples  who  never  came  into 
any  close  touch  with  the  empire  either  in  its  grandeur  or  in 
its  dissolution.  At  the  period  we  are  now  treating  these 
ancestors  of  the  present  Germans  and  Scandinavians  were 
still  semi-barbarous  and  wholly  heathen. 

The   point   to   be   remembered   in    connection   with   this 
I- 


448  THE  ROMAN  PEOPLE. 

chapter  is  that  it  was  kinsmen  of  these  that  had  been  able 
to  break  up  the  western  half  of  the  empire  and  to  appro- 
priate it  to  themselves.  We  speak  sometimes  of  the  Latin 
peoples.  But  there  is  no  such  people.  Those  who  are 
nearest  the  old  Roman  stock,  still  must  have  in  them  to-day 
a  large  proportion  of  Teutonic  blood,  and  the  name 
Romance  peoples,  indicative  of  iheir  composite  origin,  at 
bottom  Latin,  but  largely  modified,  is  a  more  fitting  desig- 
nation. And  another  noteworthy  thing  is  the  way  in  which 
these  all-conquering  Germans  manifested  their  aptitude  to 
take  up  the  higher  civilization  of  their  Latin  subjects.  For 
the  capacity  of  the  German  for  new  ideas  was  the  great  hope 
of  the  age  that  was  to  follow.  Had  he  been,  like  the  Turk 
of  the  Middle  Ages,  a  conqueror,  whose  advent  meant  the 
destruction  of  most  that  was  old,  and  the  refusal  to  accept 
the  new  in  any  form,  all  Europe  to-day  might  be  what 
Turkey  is.  But  in  the  Teuton  lay  the  hope  and  not  the 
despair  of  the  world. 

SOURCES. 

Cassiodorus T/ie  Letters  of  Cassiodorus  (tr.  by  Hodg- 

kin). 
Boethius Consolation  of  Philosophy. 

PARALLEL  READING. 

Gibbon c.  xxxviii. 

Myers c.  xxviii. 

Hodgkin Italy   and  her  Invaders:    Theodoric  the 

Ostrogoth. 

Church,  A.  J Early  Britain  (Nations). 

Church,  R.  W The    Bej^ inning    of   the    Midale    Ages 

(Epochs). 

Emerton Introduction  to  the  Middle  Ages. 

Adams Civilization  during  the  Middle  Ages,  c.  v. 

Thatcher  and  Schwill  Europe  in  the  Middle  Age,  cc.  iii-v. 

Gummere,  F.  B Germanic  Origins. 

Oman,  C I^he  Dark  Ages,  cc.  i,  ii,  iv,  vii,  viii,  x,  xi. 

Kitchin,  G.  W History  of  I  ranee.  Vol.  I. 

Green,  J.  R The  Making  of  England  and  Short  His- 
tory of  the  English  People,  c.  i. 


CHAPTER    XXX. 
THE   EASTERN   EMPIRE. 

The  Empire  Survives. — It  has  been  already  remarked 
that  the  people  of  the  closing  quarter  of  the  fifth  century 
would  have  wondered  what  was  meant  if  they  had  heard  of 
the  "  fall  of  Rome."  For  the  mere  fact  that  there  was  no 
longer  an  emperor  in  the  city  of  the  Caesars  was  nothing  new 
or  unnatural  to  them.  Ever  since  the  days  of  Constantine 
they  had  been  used  to  that.  To  their  minds  the  continuity 
of  the  empire  lay  not  in  the  importance  of  the  city  on  the 
Tiber,  but  in  the  fact  that  there  was  a  regular  succession  of 
emperors — whether  eastern,  western,  or  both,  made  little 
difference;  that  consuls  were  named  from  year  to  year;  that 
the  machinery  of  government  worked,  more  or  less  smoothly, 
in  the  ways  to  which  the  system  of  Diocletian  and  Constan- 
tine had  accustomed  them.  All  these  conditions  were  ful- 
filled as  completely  after  Odoacer's  revolution  as  before  it. 

Attention,  therefore,  is  transferred  for  a  time  from  Rome 
to  Constantinople.  This  capital  becomes  the  centre  of 
actions  that  are  extremely  important  in  their  bearing  on  the 
history  of  Europe.  It  has  been  the  fashion  until  recently  to 
speak  contemptuously  of  the  eastern,  Byzantine,  or  Greek 
empire,  as  living  only  in  a  base  and  servile  fashion  after  the 
fall  of  Rome  and  until. its  extinction  by  the  Turks  in  1453. 
But  the  more  careful  study  and  reflection  of  later  historians 
has  resulted  in  a  revival  of  esteem  for  the  existence  and  the 
work  of  that  empire.  And  a  more  generous  recognition  is 
being  given  to  that  work.     If  it  was  largely  of  a  negative 

449 


450  THE  ROMAN  PEOPLE. 

character,  still  to  have  stood  for  a  thousand  years  as  a 
bulwark  against  the  incursion  of  non-Aryan  and  non -Christian 
hordes  into  Europe  is  to  have  rendered  a  great  service. 

In  discussing  the  causes  of  the  successes  of  the  Teutonic 
peoples  against  the  western  half  of  the  empire  it  was  hinted 
that  tMe  reason  they  were  not  similarly  successful  in  dis- 
membering the  eastern  half  was  to  be  found  in  a  happy 
conjunction  of  accidents.  That  is  but  partially  true,  unless 
great  men  are  to  be  classed  as  accidents.  In  the  period 
which  falls  within  the  scope  of  this  work  there  sat  on  the 
Byzantine  throne  two  great  men.  One  of  these  men  was 
surrounded  with  able  helpers.  He  used  them  for  the  most 
part  skilfully,  and  was  able  thus  to  do  great  things  for  his 
empire.  Another  reason  for  the  survival  and  the  service  of 
the  eastern  empire  is  to  be  found  in  the  fact  that  its  rulers, 
when  confronted  by  thronging  barbarians,  were  able  in 
several  instances  to  play  one  tribe  or  nation  against  another, 
or  by  diplomacy  to  win  what  they  were  not  strong  enough 
to  accomplish  by  arms. 

Justinian. — The  first  of  these  two  great  emperors  was 
Justinian,  who  ruled  from  527  to  565  a.d.,  thus  appearing 
on  the  scene  almost  at  the  moment  when  the  great  Theod- 
oric  is  passing  off.  Justin,  his  uncle,  a  rough  Illyrian,  like 
so  many  of  the  ablest  wearers  of  the  imperial  purple,  had 
forced  his  way  to  the  throne  of  Constantinople  by  his  mili- 
tary ability.  The  nephew  was  himself  no  general,  but  found 
ready  at  command  a  military  genius  of  whom  more  will  be 
said  presently. 

Into  his  reign  are  crowded  a  series  of  events  which  vividly 
illustrate  the  changes  which  had  taken  place  since  the  times 
of  Augustus.  His  life  is  told  in  the  pages  of  Procopius,  his 
minister  and  biographer.  He  wrote  a  complete  account  of 
the  wars  of  Justinian,  a  work  on  his  great  building  opera- 
tions, and  after  Justinian's  death  there  appeared  a  book  of 
anecdotes  about  the  emperor  and  his  wife  which  it  wouIq 
not  have  been  wise  to  publish  during  their  lives.     From 


THE  EASTERN  EMPIRE. 


45^ 


these  sources  we  get  a  better  idea  of  the  times  than  of  any 
era  for  some  distance  on  either  side  of  it. 


JUSTINIAN    AND    HIS   COURT. 

(Mosaic.) 

Theodora. — Justinian  married  a  woman  of  exceeding 
beauty  and  brilliancy.  She  was  of  lowly  origin,  and  had 
been  an  actress  in  the  public  shows  of  the  eastern  capital. 
She  had  been  as  low  in  many  of  her  practices  as  a  woman 
could  well  be,  and  was  notorious  for  her  beautiful  wicked- 
ness. That  an  emperor  could  marry  such  a  woman  is  a 
commentary  on  the  moral  conditions  of  the  time.  But  it  is 
fair  to  say  that  from  the  time  of  her  marriage  she  seemed  to 
rise  to  her  position,  and  deported  herself  as  an  empress 
ought.  Justinian  made  her  not  merely  consort,  but  actually 
associated  her  with  him  in  the  government,  and  her  woman's 
wit  and  address  served  him  many  a  good  turn. 

The  Factions  of  the  Circus. — It  will  be  remembered  that 
the  citizens  of  old  Rome  sunk  so  low  as  to  be  mainly  a  mere 
rabble  clamoring  to  the  authorities  for  * '  bread  and  circus- 
tickets. "  The  same  vicious  system  had  been  extended  to 
the  new  capital  on  the  Bosphorus.     As  it  must  imitate  the 


452  THE  ROMAN  PEOPLE. 

glories  of  old  Rome,  so  it  must  borrow  her  shame.  A 
populace  so  pampered  had  little  better  to  do  than  to  give 
their  energy  to  the  excitement  of  witnessing  the  great  races 
of  the  hippodrome.  Rival  factions  of  racers  and  their 
partisans  became  fixed  features  of  metropolitan  life.  The 
quarrels  of  these  factions  took  the  place  held  by  political 
animosities  in  our  own  times.  The  two  principal  racing 
factions  were  the  ' '  greens  ' '  and  the  ' '  blues. ' '  On  one 
occasion  both  of  these  factions  became  incensed  against  the 
government,  with  the  result  that  their  combined  rioting  was 
not  suppressed  until  thirty-five  thousand  of  them  had  been 
slain  by  the  soldiers.  A  poor  enough  cause  for  such  excite- 
ment and  such  slaughter,  and  one  which  marks  only  too 
well  the  degradation  of  a  people  who  considered  themselves 
imperial. 

The  Vandal  War. — One  of  the  chief  glories  of  the  reign 
of  Justinian  is  that  won  for  him  by  his  great  general, 
Belisarius,  in  a  series  of  successful  wars.  Belisarius,  like  his 
master,  was  of  barbarian  origin.  But  his  youth  had  been 
rudely  nurtured,  and  he  had  fought  his  way  by  sheer  ability 
to  high  command.  His  first  great  opportunity  came  when 
Justinian  interfered  in  the  Vandal  kingdom  of  north  Africa. 
Trouble  between  the  orthodox  inhabitants  whose  ancestors 
had  once  been  citizens  of  the  empire,  and  the  Arian  Vandals, 
led  to  Justinian  undertaking  the  conquest  of  the  latter. 
The  political  bearing  of  the  intervention  is  also  to  be  noted. 
For  surely  Justinian  might  be  glad  of  an  excuse  to  restore 
to  his  empire  so  goodly  a  region.  After  an  arduous  cam- 
paign the  Vandal  capital,  a  new  Carthage,  was  captured,  and 
the  Vandal  kingdom  came  to  an  end  (533  a.d.). 

The  Winning  of  Italy. — The  next  exploit  of  the  great 
commander  was  the  recovery  of  Italy  to  imperial  rule  and 
the  expulsion  of  the  Ostrogoths.  But  this  task  was  by  no 
means  so  easily  accomplished  as  had  been  the  reduction  of 
Africa.  From  535  to  553  a.d.  the  contest  was  protracted, 
and  the  fortunes  of  war  were  first  with  Goth  and  then  with 


THE  EASTERN  EMPIRE.  453 

Roman.  At  one  time  the  Ostrogoths  besieged  an  imperial 
army  in  Rome  itself.  Finally  Belisarius  fell  under  the  sus- 
picions of  his  master  and  was  recalled.  And  another  general 
named  Narses  undertook  the  war.  It  was  at  last  brought  to 
a  successful  conclusion,  and  Italy  was  definitely  annexed  to 
the  empire  once  more.  The  peninsula  w-as  governed  by  an 
exarch  whose  capital  was  fixed  at  Ravenna.  The  province 
was  known  as  the  Exarchate  of  Ravenna.  A  preceding 
sketch  of  the  Lombards  has  already  shown  \\o%  they  broke 
up  this  exarchate  within  a  few  years.  The  rift  between  east 
and  west  might  be  temporarily  patched  up  by  military  force, 
but  the  two  halves  of  the  empire  must  inevitably  fall  apart 
in  the  end. 

Silk-culture. — These  conquests  by  the  great  soldiers 
Belisarius  and  Narses  seemed  brilliant,  but  could  not  pro- 
duce permanent  results.  The  time  was  gone  by  when  the 
world  could  be  governed  from  one  centre.  Its  interests  had 
become  too  diverse.  But  there  were  several  solid  achieve- 
ments in  the  reign  of  Justinian.  And  not  the  least  of  these 
was  the  introduction  of  the  silkworm  into  Europe.  In  the 
third  century  a  pound  of  silk  was  worth,  in  Italy,  twelve 
ounces  of  gold.  The  soft  and  lustrous  fabric,  at  first  con- 
demned as  wantonly  luxurious,  had  become  almost  indispen- 
sable, especially  since  the  court  and  the  emperors  themselves 
had  adopted  it.  But  to  import  it  from  China  entailed  vast 
expense  in  those  days  of  difficult  and  dangerous  transit. 
At  length  two  Persian  monks  who  had  been  missionaries  in 
China  succeeded  in  concealing  some  of  the  eggs  of  the  silk- 
worm in  the  tops  of  their  canes,  and  thus  cheating  the  jealous 
eyes  of  the  Chinese,  they  brought  the  valuable  germs  safely 
away  with  them,  and  taught  the  Greeks  to  rear  the  insects 
and  ^  to  manufacture  the  fabric.  Gibbon  remarks  that  if, 
instead  of  stealing  from  th,e  Chinese  the  secret  of  a  jnere 
luxury,  they  had  borrowed  the  art  of  printing,  they  would 
have  rendered  a  far  greater  service  to  civilization.  That 
may  be  so;  at  the  same  time  it  is  true  that  the  addition  of 


454  THE  ROMAN  PEOPLE. 

silk-culture  to  the  industries  of  Europe  was  a  substantial 
gain  in  that  it  afforded  a  new  field  of  labor  for  thousands 
who  sorely  needed  a  means  of  livelihood.  For  times  were 
hard  and  bitter  then  for  the  average  man.  Wars  and  forays, 
seditions  and  revolutions,  scourges  of  famine  and  pestilence 
were  frequent  and  their  results  dire.  In  such  times  it  is 
cheering  to  know  of  any  progress,  however  humble,  being 
made  along  industrial  lines. 

Justinian^s  Buildings;  St.  Sophia. — One  of  the  causes 
of  the  heavy  taxation  which  distressed  the  subjects  of 
Justinian  was  his  extravagance  in  building.  But  just  as  to 
the  similar  extravagance  and  oppression  of  Henry  III. 
England  owes  Westminster  Abbey,  so  to  Justinian  the  world 
owes  one  of  its  grandest  churches,  that  of  the  Holy  Wisdom, 
or  Sancta  Sophia,  at  Constantinople.  That  it  is  now  a 
Mohammedan  mosque  does  not  detract  from  its  architectural 
grandeur  and  significance  as  an  exponent  of  what  could  be 
designed  and  executed  in  the  sixth  century. 

The  Code  of  Justinian. — The  thing  by  which  the  great 
emperor  is  best  and  most  deservedly  known  is  his  codifica- 
tion of  Roman  law. 

Theodosius  II.,  a  hundred  years  before,  had  made  a  collec- 
tion of  imperial  edicts;  but  this  was  imperfect.  And  the 
Roman  law  in  its  entirety  must  contain  not  merely  these  but 
the  opinions  of  the  great  lawyers  as  well,  since  the  emperors 
had  given  to  these  precedents  a  legal  force.  Justinian 
entrusted  the  ablest  jurists  of  his  age  with  the  task  of  reduc- 
ing to  writing  and  harmonizing  the  vast  mass  of  floating 
material  which  composed  the  law  of  the  time.  All  the 
imperial  edicts  were  collected  and  arranged  in  the  great 
Code;  the  precedents  found  in  the  decisions  of  jurists  were 
collected  in  the  Digest,  or  Pandects;  and  four  books  of 
Institutes,  or  Elements,  were  arranged  for  students  of  the 
law.  This  gigantic  task  was  of  service  not  alone  to  that 
age,  but  on  this  well-ordered  foundation  is  based  the  law  of 
half  of  modern  Europe.      For  in  the  earliest  dawn  of  the 


THE  EASTERN  EMPIRE.  455 

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A   PAGE   FROM  THE   PANDECTS. 


456  .  THE  ROMAN  PEOPLE. 

Renaissance  this  code,  long  neglected,  was  taken  up  and 
studied  with  energy,  and  helped  to  transform  the  newly 
forming  nations  from  feudal  to  modern  conditions.  Another 
instance  is  thus  afforded  of  the  way  in  which  our  modern 
world  owes  a  vast  debt  to  the  Roman  civilization  and 
notably  to  the  Roman  political  and  legal  genius.  In  the 
United  States  is  to  be  found  a  survival  of  this  Roman  law. 
For  the  legal  system  of  the  state  of  Louisiana,  French  in 
origin,  is  based  upon  the  old  French  law,  and  that  upon  the 
Roman.  Elsewhere  in  the  English-speaking  world  the 
Roman  law  has  not  been  so  deeply  formative,  because  of 
the  early  and  entire  separation  of  Britain  from  the  empire. 

Heraclius  (610-641  a.d.). — The  annals  of  the  eastern 
empire  are  inglorious  for  a  time,  until  the  second  of  the  two 
great  emperors  alluded  to  early  in  the  chapter  appears.  The 
great  service  of  Heraclius  (610-641  a.d.)  was  in  his  subju- 
gation of  the  great  Persian  power  which  began  at  this  time 
to  threaten  Europe.  If  it  had  not  been  for  him  and  his 
empire;  if  there  had  been  the  same  disorganization  in  the 
east  as  in  the  west  at  that  time,  it  is  possible  that  the 
Persians  might  have  overrun  Europe,  and  the  result  of  this 
would  possibly  have  been  to  make  the  way  of  the  Moham- 
medans into  Europe  all  the  easier.  But  the  deed  of 
Heraclius  averted  this  danger. 

The  method  he  employed  is  one  of  the  most  daring  in 
military  annals.  While  Chosroes,  the  Persian  king,  was 
carrying  his  victorious  armies  through  Syria,  Egypt,  and 
Asia  Minor,  Heraclius  took  a  very  small  but  carefully 
selected  force,  and  boldly  pushed  his  way  into  the  heart  of 
the  enemy's  country.  The  great  battle  of  Nineveh,  627 
A.D.,  decided  that  the  Persians  were  to  stay  in  their  own 
country  and  leave  the  empire  alone. 

Later  Byzantine  History. — The  further  story  of  this  half 
of  the  empire  is  beyond  our  scope.  For  our  purpose  enough 
has  been  said.  It  held  its  place  largely  by  force  of  inertia 
for  eight  centuries  more,  until  its  mission  had  been  accom- 


THE  EASTERN  EMPIRE.  457 

plished,  and  the  tide  of  Turkish  barbarism  had  been  held 
back  long  enough  to  enable  the  western  nations  to  stand 
upon  their  feet  and  work  out  their  own  superior  civilization. 

SOURCE. 
Justinian The  Institutes  (tr.  by  Moyle) . 

PARALLEL  READING. 

Gibbon cc.^xl-xliv. 

Myers c.  xxx. 

Hodgkin Italy  ami  her  Invaders,  Vol.  iv 

Bury The  Later  Roman  Empire. 

Oman,  C The  Byzantine  Empire  (Nations),  cc.  iv-xi. 

Harrison,  F Byzantine  History  in  the  Early  Middle  A^es. 

Finlay,  G History  of  Greece,  Vol.  i. 

Moray Outlines  of  Roman  Law. 

Hadley Introduction  to  Roman  Law. 


CHAPTER    XXXI. 
CHRISTIANITY  AND   MOHAMMEDANISM. 

The  New  Factor  in  Life. — Out  of  the  wreck  of  old  Rome 
there  is  to  be  slowly  built  up  a  new  world.  Into  the  new 
system  of  things  will  enter  as  component  parts  most  of  what 
we  have  been  considering.  The  Roman  civilization,  with 
its  language,  its  literature,  its  art  and  science,  its  law  and 
philosophy,  its  general  traditions  of  life:  this  is  the  founda- 
tion. To  this  has  been  added  the  Germanic  element.  Here 
are  to  be  considered  as  factors  the  vast  mass  of  the  German 
peoples,  with  their  language,  their  traditions,  their  personal 
characteristics  as  we  have  already  seen  them;  their  political 
notions — of  art,  literature,  and  science,  of  course,  they  had 
none.  Still  they  are  a  hugely  determining  factor  in  the 
problem  of  the  Middle  Ages. 

To  these  two  factors — the  Roman  and  the  German — is  to 
be  added  an  important  third,  viz.,  Christianity.  In  the 
period  we  are  now  considering,  that  of  the  break-up  of  the 
western  part  of  the  empire,  Christianity  comes  to  the  front 
and  takes  possession,  religiously,  of  Europe.  Henceforth 
religion  is  a  force  in  history  as  it  has  never  been  before. 
One  faith,  sternly  exclusive  of  all  others,  with  an  ideal 
morality,  and  a  motive  power  unknown  before,  becomes  the 
unifying  element  of  a  life  otherwise  chaotic  and  disorganized. 

The  Progress  of  Christianity. — Under  Constantine  Chris- 
tianity had  first  won  for  itself  toleration.  Within  another 
century  it  had  ousted  paganism  from  its  chartered  rights, 
and  made  of  it  a  proscribed  thing.     By  the  middle  of  the 

458 


I 


CHRISTIANITY  AND  MOHAMMEDANISM,  459 

fifth  century  the  word  pagan,  **  a  villager, "  had  taken  on 
the  meaning  of  a  rustic,  who  has  not  yet  heard  of  or  has  not 
accepted  the  prevalent  Christianity  of  the  towns  and  of  the 
cultivated  class. 

But  Christianity  was  no  longer  the  simple  creed  and  life 
that  it  had  been  in  the  first  two  centuries  of  our  era.  Pros- 
perity and  popularity  could  not  be  without  their  effect  upon 
it,  as  upon  all  things  human.  Its  creed  of  primitive  sim- 
plicity had  become  sophisticated  with  Greek  philosophy. 
Sometimes  this  had  produced  sects,  and  notably  Gnosticism, 
which  was  a  compound  of  Christianity  and  Neoplatonism. 
But  even  when  the  church  resisted  such  admixtures,  her 
*  dogma  was  inevitably  modified  by  the  current  philosophy 
and  life.  And  in  the  west  it  is  the  fact  that  her  theology 
was  largely  affected  by  political  conditions.  To  Augustine, 
the  great  Latin  theologian  of  the  fifth  century,  God  was  a 
sort  of  emperor,  and  the  relation  of  sonship  and  fatherhood 
which  Christ  had  taught  was  largely  forgotten  in  a  new  legal 
relationship  akin  to  that  of  the  subject  to  his  ruler. 

Christianity  was  affected  also  by  the  paganism  about  it, 
both  Roman  and  German.  In  the  matter  of  worship 
especially,  it  is  probable  that  rites  and  forms  were  accom- 
modated to  the  less  spiritual  conceptions  of  the  Roman  and 
the  rude  ideas  of  the  German.  This  may  not  have  been 
intentional :  it  was  an  inevitable  reaction. 

Moreover,  the  fact  that  Christianity  had  now  become 
fashionable  was  not  without  results  affecting  its  moral 
purity.  Persecution  is  a  great  guardian  of  sincerity.  In  a 
persecuted  church  there  are  not  likely  to  be  found  many  but 
convinced  and  zealous  adherents.  When  things  turn  the 
other  way,  and  it  is  no  longer  considered  quite  proper  to  be 
outside  of  the  church,  then  'the  temptation  to  insincerity 
becomes  strong.  When  wealth  and  fashion  come  there  is 
no  longer  the  stern  purity  of  the  hunted  in  the  catacombs. 

But  while  these  reactions  of  its  environment  upon  Chris- 
tianity were  bound  to  come,  still  the  Christian  faith  took  its 


46o  THE  ROMAN  PEOPLE. 

mighty  grip  upon  European  life  for  good.  Some  phases  of 
its  story  remain  to  be  traced. 

The  Growth  of  the  Papacy. — One  of  the  most  stupendous 
institutions  in  history  has  been  the  Papacy.  Throughout 
the  Middle  Ages  it  dominated  western  Europe.  To-day  its 
power  is  different  from  what  it  was  in  1200  a.d.,  but  who 
shall  say  it  is  less  }  This  papacy  has  been  in  many  senses 
the  legatee  of  the  dying  empire  of  the  west.  The  pope  in 
the  chair  of  Peter  is  to  a  large  extent  the  successor  of  the 
emperor  on  the  seat  of  Augustus  or  the  throne  of  Constan- 
tine.  To  trace  the  progress  of  this  mighty  spiritual  empire 
from  its  faint  beginnings  is  an  interesting  process. 

Causes  of  Papal  Greatness. — Several  causes  can  be 
readily  named  for  the  special  power  attained  by  the  bishops 
of  Rome. 

A.  The  church  had  early  developed  a  system  of  govern- 
ment by  bishops.  This  has  been  already  traced  in  Chapter 
XXVI.  The  carrying  out  of  this  system  to  a  higher  and 
higher  degree,  in  imitation,  probably,  of  the  graduated  system 
of  officials  in  the  imperial  government,  had  brought  into 
special  prominence  and  power  the  so-called  patriarchs  of 
Antioch,  Alexandria,  Constantinople,  and  Rome,  the  chief 
cities  of  the  empire.  To  complete  the  analogy  it  was  only 
needed  that  one  of  these  should  liken  himself  in  the  church 
to  the  emperor  in  the  state.  What  more  natural  than  that 
the  bishop  of  Rome  should  seek  such  a  position  ?  Aside 
from  such  an  analogy  was  the  fact  that  while  these  other 
patriarchal  cities  were  near  each  other,  and  so  circumscribed 
the  possible  jurisdiction  of  each,  Rome  was  the  only  great 
city  of  western  Europe.  Her  bishop  then  had  the  whole 
western  empire  for  his  patriarchate.  This  one  fact  gave  him 
a  great  advantage  in  position.  * 

B.  Not  only  was  Rome  the  only  great  city  of  the  west  : 
she  was  the  capital  as  well,  and  the  source  of  all  the  great 
dominating  ideas  and  tendencies  of  the  time.  The  emperor 
might  indeed  reside  elsewhere,  but  still  he  was  the  Roman 


INTERIOR   OF   CHURCH    OF   SANT'    APOLLINARE  NUOVO, 

(Built  by  Theodoric.) 


462  THE  ROMAN  PEOPLE, 

emperor,  ruling  the  Roman  world.  A  mystic  veneration 
had  long  clung,  still  clings,  about  the  very  name  and  site  of 
the  Eternal  City.  The  Roman  bishop  was  the  beneficiary  of 
this  notion.  Nor  did  the  political  decadence  of  the  capital 
detract  from  the  importance  of  its  bishop.  It  rather 
increased  it.  For  the  very  structure  of  the  thought  of  the 
western  world  required  some  great  name  and  office,  some 
great  centre  of  unity  at  Rome.  When  the  emperors  aban- 
doned Rome  the  bishop  became  the  subject  of  this  esteem 
and  reverence. 

C.  Spiritual  tradition  also  helped  confirm  the  Roman 
claims.  For  it  was  said  that  Christ  had  given  the  primacy 
in  his  church  to  St.  Peter.  And  had  not  Peter  preached 
and  suffered  death  at  Rome  ?  And  was  not  the  Roman 
bishop  then  his  natural  successor,  and  so  the  appointed  head 
of  the  church  on  earth  ?  Modern  scholars  are  greatly  divided 
over  the  question  whether  Peter  ever  came  to  Rome  at  all. 
The  fact  makes  but  little  difference  in  the  history.  For  it 
was  firmly  believed  that  he  had  worked  and  died  there,  and 
the  Church  of  Rome  was  to  the  men  of  the  period  we  study 
the  church  of  Peter. 

D.  In  the  fifth  century  it  had  been  well  established  in  the 
west  that  appeals  in  ecclesiastical  causes  should  lie  to  Rome, 
and  that  the  opinion  of  the  Roman  bishop  in  matters  of 
doctrine  should  be  of  gravest  weight.  The  great  Council  of 
Chalcedon  in  451  a.d.  had  taken  a  letter  of  Leo,  the 
Roman  bishop,  as  the  solution  of  a  most  vexed  point  of  doc- 
trine. Added  to  all  this  is  the  fact  that  there  rose  up  in 
Rome  now  and  then  bishops  of  the  highest  order  of  talent. 
Notable  among  such  was  the  Leo  just  named.  Not  only 
was  he  great  as  a  theologian,  but  we  have  already  seen 
him  taming  the  wrath  of  an  Attila  and  the  ferocity  of  a 
Gaiseric. 

A  century  and  a  half  later  came  Gregory  I.,  who  has  a 
twofold  title  to  remembrance.  Under  him  it  was  that  the 
first  Roman  mission  was  sent  to  England.     He  is  noterl  also 


f  CHRISTIANITY  AND  MOHAMMEDANISM,  463 

for  a  controversy  with  the  patriarch  of  Constantinople,  which 
shows  that  even  as  late  as  600  a.d.  the  bishop  of  Rome 
was  far  from  esteeming  himself  lord  of  all  the  church.  The 
bishop  of  Constantinople,  in  virtue  of  his  office  in  the  city 
which  was  the  seat  of  the  only  remaining  emperor,  ventured 
to  style  himself  "  Universal  Bishop."  Gregory  vehemently 
resented  such  a  claim,  not  because  he  wished  it  for  himself: 
on  the  contrary,  he  declared  himself  '*  servant  of  the  servants 
of  God."  But  in  real  influence  he  was  by  all  odds  the 
greatest  man  of  his  times  in  the  church. 

E.  The  Roman  Church  was  a  gieat  missionary  church, 
and  this  contributed  greatly  to  extending  the  power  of  the 
Roman  bishop.  We  shall  trace  under  another  heading  the 
conversion  of  the  Germanic  peoples. 

All  these  causes  combined  to  make  the  Roman  bishop 
undeniably  the  supreme  ecclesiastical  power  in  the  west.  It 
can  hardly  be  said  that  he  ever  exercised  any  real  authority 
within  the  limits  of  the  eastern  empire,  and  in  the  eighth 
century  there  came  a  serious  religious  quarrel  between  the 
east  and  the  west,  which  was  the  beginning  of  an  enduring 
schism  between  the  Roman  and  the  Greek  churches. 

The  Iconoclastic  Controversy. — The  veneration  of  images 
of  the  Saviotir  and  the  saints  had  early  taken  strong  root  in 
the  church.  But  a  party  in  the  Greek  world  at  length  rose 
who  condemned  such  worship.  The  bishop  of  Rome  made 
himself  the  champion  of  the  use  of  images.  A  bitter  con- 
troversy thus  arose,  which  was  intensified  by  a  point  of 
doctrinal  divergence.  The  western  church  at  a  Council  of 
Toledo  in  589  a.d.  had  added  a  clause  to  the  Nicene  Creed 
(the  comnion  creed  of  east  and  west),  which  asserted  that 
the  Holy  Spirit  proceeds  from  the  Son  as  well  as  from  the 
Father.  This  the  Greeks  would  never  accept,  and  it  con- 
stitutes to-day  a  ground  of  separation  between  the  Greek  and 
the  Roman  churches,  although  they  have  long  since  ceased 
to  quarrel  over  the  use  of  artistic  representations  of  the 
saints. 


464  THE  ROMAN  PEOPLE, 

Conversion  of  the  Barbarians. — It  has  been  already  indi- 
cated that  the  Ostrogoths  and  the  Visigoths  were  Christians 
before  their  admission  into  the  empire  in  the  closing  years 
of  the  fourth  century.  The  conversion  of  the  latter  is 
attributed  to  Ulfilas,  probably  the  descendant  of  some 
Christian  captive.  He  became  missionary  bishop  among 
these  people  in  343  a.d.,  and  to  him  belongs  the  honor  of 
inventing  the  first  alphabet  ever  adapted  to  a  Germanic 
tongue.  This  he  did,  and  taught  his  people  its  use  that  he 
might  translate  into  it  the  Bible.  Such  is  the  beginning  of 
literature  among  the  Germanic  peoples. 

It  is  said  that  he  purposely  left  out  the  Books  of  the  Kinjiys 
from  his  translation  on  account  of  the  stories  of  battle,  saying 
that  his  people  were  warlike  enough  already  without  learning 
any  sanction  for  their  ferocity  from  the  chosen  people. 

All  these  early  converts  were  Arians,  probably  because  the 
Arian  heresy  was  in  the  ascendant  at  the  time  of  their  con- 
version, but  this  heresy  gradually  gave  place  to  the  orthodox 
faith. 

Those  peoples  who  were  converted  after  the  fall  of  Rome 
were  brought  at  once  into  the  orthodox  Catholic  Church. 
Amongst  these  the  Franks  were  of  prime  importance.  In 
the  story  of  Clovis  we  have  already  seen  how  he  was  con- 
verted on  the  field  of  battle.  Our  next  chapter  will  show 
how,  partly  because  of  his  orthodox  belief,  his  successors 
became  the  champions  of  the  pope  against  the  heretical 
Lombards,  and  thus  led  to  an  exchange  of  services  between 
popes  and  Frankish  kings  which  was  of  supreme  importance 
to  both. 

The  Anglo-Saxons. — Roman  Britain  had  been  Chris- 
tianized in  some  way  which  is  unknown.  But  this  earlier 
Christianity  had  been  largely  uprooted  by  the  Saxon  con- 
querors of  the  fifth  century.  They  had  not  exterminated  it 
from  the  west  and  the  north  of  the  island,  but  they  had  not 
themselves  accepted  it.  It  was  owing  to  Gregory,  the  pope 
who  has  lately  been  mentioned,  that  their  conversion  was  due. 


CHRISTIANITY  AND  MOHAMMEDANISM.  4^5 

f  Before  he  became  pope  it  is  said  that  he  one  day  saw  some 
'fair-haired  slaves  exposed  for  sale  at  Rome.  Struck  by  their 
difference  from  the  Italians,  he  asked  who  they, were.  "  Angles," 
he  was  told.  "  Not  Angles,  but  angels, '  was  his  reply  {Non 
Angli,  sed  angelt).  He  thereupon  determined  that  if  ever  the 
opportunity  came  he  would  seek  to  evangelize  so  attractive  a 
people. 

i  In  596  A.D.  he  sent  Augustine  with  forty  monks  to 
evangelize  Britain.  Their  way  had  been  prepared  by  Bertha, 
the  Frankish  wife  of  the  king  of  Kent,  she  being,  like  her 
people,  a  Christian.  Augustine's  mission  was  successful, 
and  his  location  at  Canterbury  accounts  for  the  fact  that 
that  quiet  country  town  is  to-day  the  seat  of  the  primacy  of 
England.  This  new  Roman  organization  soon  came  face  to 
face  with  the  old  Celtic  church,  which  was  doing  missionary 
work  among  the  Saxon  conquerors.  For  a  time  there  were 
disputes  between  Roman  and  Celt  on  what  would  seem  to 
us  very  non-essentiaf  points,  but  which  seemed  mountainous 
to  them.  Fortunately  for  England  the  Roman  side  pre- 
vailed, and  though  no  political  tie  ever  again  united  England 
to  Rome,  yet  she  came  into  religious  unity  with  her,  and 
drew  from  Rome  a  share  of  the  many  advantages  which  the 
Roman  Church  undoubtedly  had  to  bestow  in  the  Middle 
Aglbs. 

The  Saxons. — The  patron  saint  of  Germany  is  Boniface. 
Boniface  was  an  English  monk  who  in  the  first  half  of  the 
eighth  century  gave  his  life  to  the  conversion  of  the  Saxons. 
Through  his  zealous  efforts  these  people  were  won  not  only 
to  Christianity,  but  to  a  strong  devotion  to  the  Roman  see. 
As  we  have  already  noticed,  in  this  missionary  zeal  for  Rome 
is  to  be  found  one  cause  of  the  universal  acceptance  of  the 
pope's  supremacy  in  the  west. 

Monasticism. — Besides  the  papacy  another  institution  was 
destined  to  be  of  immense  service  to  the  church  and  to 
civilization.     That  was  monasticism. 

The  notion  that  retirement  from  the  world,  a  life  of 
celibacy,   and  devotion  to  spiritual  exercises  is  a  road  to 


466  THE  ROMAN  PEOPLE. 

special  sanctity,  is  not  peculiar  to  Christianity.  It  is  found 
in  a  number  of  eastern  religions,  notably  Buddhism.  But 
it  early  found  its  way  into  the  church.  At  first  it  took  the 
form  of  the  solitary  life.  Men  and  women  went  and  lived 
alone  in  desolate  places.  Somewhat  later,  about  the  close 
of  the  third  century,  the  cenobitic,  or  common,  life  for 
monks  became  popular. 

In  the  dark  days  of  the  declining  empire  the  monkish  life 
possessed  strong  attractions  for  men  weary  of  the  wickedness 
or  disappointments  of  the  world.  Monasticism  received  a 
lasting  impetus  for  good  from  Benedict,  an  Italian  (480-543 
A.D.),  who  framed  a  new  Rule  for  those  who  chose  to  follow 
him.  One  of  the  great  glories  of  his  rule  was  that  it  taught 
the  monk  the  duty  of  labor  as  well  as  of  prayer.  It  made 
of  him  not  a  mere  spiritual  loafer,  depending  upon  filth  of 
body  for  purity  of  soul;  but  it  insisted  that  he  be  orderly  as 
well  as  devout;  that  he  read  as  well  as  pray;  and  work  for 
his  living  instead  of  depending  on  the  chance  charity  of  the 
pious.  The  rule  of  Benedict  spread  rapidly  in  favor,  and  as 
the  world  sank  into  the  gloom  and  anarchy  of  what  are 
sometimes  called  the  Dark  Ages,  each  of  thousands  of 
Benedictine  monasteries  became  a  point  of  light  in  the 
darkness. 

With  our  multiplied  agencies  for  philanthropic,  educa- 
tional, religious,  and  literary  work  it  is  difficult  for  us  to 
reproduce  in  imagination  the  way  in  which  all  these  func- 
tions were  served  by  the  monasteries  for  many  centuries  from 
500  A.D.  onwards. 

Most  of  the  churches,  especially  among  the  newly  con- 
verted people,  were  those  attached  to  the  abbeys.  In  con- 
nection with  these  were  the  scanty  libraries  of  the  time. 
Here  were  the  only  schools.  The  passing  traveller  might 
always  find  shelter  in  the  guest-room  of  the  abbey  if  he  were 
a  person  of  quality,  and  even  if  he  were  penniless  some 
resting-place  would  be  found  for  him.  The  criminal  might 
seek   asylum  with   the  kindly  monks;   for  the   church  was 


CHRISTIANITY  AND  MOHAMMEDANISM.  4^7 

sanctuary,  and  none  might  disturb  him  within  its  precincts. 
The  monastery  lands  were  much  less  liable  than  those  of  the 
layman  to  be  harried  by  ruthless  soldiers,  for  they  respected 
and  feared  the  church.  Of  literature  there  was  but  little  in 
this  age,  but  the  meagre  chronicles  of  the  time  are  almost 
without  exception  of  monastic  origin. 

Thus  it  will  readily  be  seen  how  varied  were  the  services 
rendered  by  the  monks,  and  how  important  a  factor  their 
houses  were  in  the  vast  change  which  was  passing  upon  the 
people  who  had  once  been  the  subjects  of  Rome. 

A  New  and  Rival  Religion. — Christianity  was  thus  mak- 
ing itself  mistress  of  the  civilized  world,  and  solidifying  its 
conquests  by  the  methods  just  indicated:  by  the  institutions 
of  the  papacy  and  the  monastic  system.  But  in  the  seventh 
century  there  arose  a  new  religion  which  was  to  be  the  only 
great  rival  of  Christianity  in  the  Mediterranean  world. 

There  were  other  great  historic  religions.  In  India  the 
hoary  faith  of  the  Hindoos  and  the  only  less  venerable 
mysticism  taught  by  Buddha,  in  China  the  practical  morality 
of  Confucianism,  and  in  Persia  the  fire-worship  of  the 
Zoroastrians  might  easily  have  been  looked  upon  as  becom- 
ing, under  certain  circumstances,  rivals  of  the  Christian 
faith.  But  there  was  in  none  of  these  old-world  religions, 
firm  as  their  hold  was  in  the  region  of  their  origin,  any  mis- 
sionary force  whatsoever  that  could  bring  them  into  contact 
and  rivalry  with  Christianity.  And  the  last  thing  that  was 
to  be  looked  for  was  that  in  such  a  quarter  of  the  world  as 
Arabia  there  should  arise  a  faith  which  should  have  a  con- 
quering power  sufficient  to  make  it  the  one  great  religious 
foe  of  Christianity;  the  only  one  which  has  seriously 
threatened  the  empire  of  the  latter  over  the  best  portions  of 
the  world  and  the  greatest  races  of  mankind.  But  so  it  was 
to  be.     Out  of  the  desert  was  to  come  a  great  prophet. 

Arabia. — This  arid  and  sterile  region  between  the  Red 
Sea  and  the  Indian  Ocean  had  never  been  conquered  by  any 
of  the  great  powers  that  had  successively  ruled  the  world. 


468  THE  ROMAN  PEOPLE. 

This  may  have  been  partly  owing  to  the  fact  that  it  was 
hardly  worth  conquering.  But  the  Arabs  have  always  main- 
tained that  it  was  unconquerable.  Be  that  as  it  may,  there 
was  little  in  its  confines  to  tempt  the  greed  of  the  conqueror. 
Unknown  and  undreaded  it  had  lain  for  years.  But  human 
genius  knows  no  limits.  In  the  deserts  of  Arabia  it  may 
spring  into  view  as  readily  as  in  the  shadow  of  an  Acropolis 
ora  Capitoline.  Arabia  produced  Mohammed.  Mohr  amed 
has  had  a  profound  effect  upon  the  history  of  all  that  was 
ever  within  the  Roman  world.  Large  portions  of  what  was 
formerly  the  western  empire  fell  into  the  hands  of  his  early 
followers  very  soon  after  that  empire  dissolved.  The  eastern 
empire  fell  at  last  before  another  section  of  those  followers. 
In  Europe,  in  Asia,  and  in  Africa  the  conflict  has  been  long 
and  bitter  between  the  followers  of  the  cross  and  those 
whose  symbol  is  the  crescent.  And  the  fight,  it  may  be,  is 
not  over  yet. 

Mohammed. — In  this  forgotten  corner  of  the  world, 
somewhere  about  the  year  572  a.d.,  was  born  Mohammed. 
His  people  were  not  a  force  among  the  nations.  For  the 
most  part  nomads,  only  those  on  the  coast  had  some  slight 
commerce  with  the  civilized,  world.  They  were  sunk  in 
superstition,  ignorance,  and  vice.  Hundreds  of  gods  were 
worshipped  among  them,  and  their  chief  divinity  was  repre- 
sented by  a  black  stone,  the  Kaaba,  sacredly  guarded  at 
Mecca.  It  is  true  that  for  purposes  of  trade  many  devotees 
of  better  faiths  had  dwelt  in  the  cities  of  Arabia.  But  that 
was  an  age  when  both  Christianity  and  Judaism  were  as 
likely  to  be  known  in  impure  and  unworthy  forms  as  in  their 
better  guise.  Such  appears  to  have  been  the  case  in  Arabia. 
Mohammed  undoubtedly  knew  something  of  both,  as  his 
writings  show.  But  neither  faith  commended  itself  to  him 
unchanged.  He  was  born  of  goodly  lineage,  being  of  the 
family  of  the  Koreishites,  or  guardians  of  the  Kaaba.  But 
he  was  poor  and,  like  most  of  his  countrymen,  uneducated. 
He  had,  however,  the  advantage  of  a  good  presence  and  a 


CHRISTIANITY  AND  MOHAMMEDANISM. 


469 


commanding  address.  His  youth  was  passed  as  a  shepherd. 
Later  he  was  raised  to  a  position  of  comfort  by  marrying  a 
well-to-do  widow,  Kadijah. 

He  appears  to  have  been  of  a  serious  and  earnest  nature, 
and  the  idolatry  of  his  countrymen  weighed  upon  his  spirit. 
Neither  the  Christianity  nor  the  Judaism  which  he  saw 
around  him  attracted  him,  possibly,  as  has  been  hinted, 
because  of  their  imperfect  exhibition  both  in  garbled  holy 
books  and  unworthy  lives.  The  one  fact  that  seemed  borne 
in  upon  his  soul  was  that  of  the  unity  of  God,  in  opposition 
to  all  forms  of  polytheism,  and  to  this  might  be  added  a 
sense  of  the  foolishness  of  all  but  spiritual  worship.  His 
system  opened  up  no  place  for  a  priestly  caste. 

At  length  Mohammed  reported  to  his  friends  that  in  a 
cave  where  he  retired  yearly  for  meditation  and  prayer  the 
Almighty,  through  the  angel  Gabriel,  had  communicated  to 
him  the  fact  of  God's  own  oneness,  and  of  Mohammed's 
mission  as  the  prophet  of  that  truth.  For  years  friend  and 
neighbor  laughed  at  his  claims.  At  length  the  gcod  Kadijah 
accepted  them,  then  one  and  another,  till  at  the  end  of  three 
years  he  had  forty  followers.  His  townsmen  at  Mecca 
derided  him,  and  in  622  a. d.  he  was  forced  to  flee  to  the 
more  northern  city  of  Medina.  This  flight  of  his,  the 
Hegira,  has  become  the  date-mark 
for  Mohammedans,  and  our  year 
622  is  their  year  i. 

Up  to  this  time  his  propaganda 
had  been  a  peaceful  one,  but 
when  the  men  of  Medina  ac- 
cepted him,  and  popularity  made 
him  strong,  he  developed  the  idea 
of  forcing  people  to  accept  his 
faith.  At  root  it  was  but  the  later 
allegedly  Christian  principle  of  the 
Inquisition.  Mecca  was  subdued,  and  by  the  time  of  the 
prophet's  death  in  632  a.d.  his  faith  and  his  conquests  had 


SEAL    OF    MOHAMMED. 


47°  THE  ROMAhl  PEOPLE. 

spread  over  Arabia,  and  even  into  Syria,  where  the  conclu- 
sion of  arms  had  been  tried  with  the  soldiers  of  the  Roman 
empire. 

The  Koran. — Before  he  died  Mohammed  had  embodied 
the  principles  of  his  faith  in  the  Koran.  The  cardinal 
principle  has  been  already  stated,  viz.,  that  of  the  unity  of 
God,  and  the  mission  of  the  prophet.  God  was  conceived 
of,  not,  as  by  the  Jew,  mainly  as  the  exponent  of  righteous- 
ness; nor,  as  by  the  Christian,  as  a  loving  Father.  The 
Koran  teaches  its  votaries  to  adore  and  reverence  one  who 
is  chiefly  distinguished  by  his  stern  unalterableness.  Of 
course  he  is  represented  as  righteous;  but  the  Mohammedan 
sees  in  God  first  and  foremost  a  distant  potentate  who  has 
ordered  things  to  be  as  they  shall,  and  who  is  the  imper- 
sonation of  fate.  This  God  is  worshipped  through  no 
mediator,  human  or  superhuman,  nor  is  he  propitiated  by 
any  sacrifices.  Those  who  believe  in  him,  and  especially 
those  who  fulfil  the  precepts  of  the  Koran,  and  most  of  all 
those  who  die  for  their  faith,  will  be  rewarded  by  a  paradise 
which  is  painted  in  the  most  gorgeous  way,  and  which 
appeals  to  man  on  the  sensual  side  of  his  nature.  The 
sinner,  if  a  believer,  will  reach  this  paradise  at  last  after 
years  of  purgatorial  suffering.  For  the  unbeliever  there  is 
no  hope. 

The  practical  duties  set  forth  in  the  Koran  are  chiefly 
four: 

A.  The  obligation  to  pray  five  times  a  day  with  face 
turned  toward  Mecca; 

B.  To  keep  the  sacred  month  of  Ramadan  as  a  fast,  by 
abstaining  totally  from  food  between  sunrise  and  sunset; 

C.  To  give  in  charity  one  tenth  of  the  income; 

D.  To  make  a  pilgrimage  to  Mecca. 

To  these  are  to  be  added  some  minor  duties,  such  as 
abstinence  from  swine's  flesh  and  from  alcohol.  Polygamy, 
to  the  extent  of  four  wives  for  the  faithful,  is  allowed,  and 
slavery  is  permitted. 


CHRISTIANITY  AND  MOHAMMEDANISM.  47 1 

Such  a  faith,  while  it  may  not  appeal  to  us  either  in  pre- 
cept or  in  practice,  was  a  great  advance  for  the  Arabs.  We 
look  askance  at  its  polygamy,  but  it  was  really  in  the  nature 
of  a  restraint  upon  brutal  license.  Its  slavery  was  only  on 
a  par  with  that  of  the  Old  Testament.  Its  theological  prin- 
ciple, while  it  seems  sterile  to  us,  was  a  mighty  force  as  over 
against  the  prevalent  polytheism,  and  sent  forth  the  Arabs 
on  their  wonderful  career  of  conquest. 

Contrast  with  Christianity. — On  the  other  hand,  to 
understand  the  fanaticism  which  made  Arab  zeal  burn 
against  Christianity  like  a  consuming  fire,  we  must  remem- 
ber what  that  Christianity  was.  The  Arab  had  been  taught 
that  God  was  one,  and  that  he  would  tolerate  no  represen- 
tation of  himself  or  of  any  created  thing.  He  heard  the 
heated  quarrels  of  the  Christians  over  their  questions  of  the 
Trinity,  three  persons  in  one  Godhead.  This  outraged  him. 
He  could  not  tolerate  it.  He  entered  the  churches.  There 
he  found  pictures  and  images  in  profusion,  and  the  people 
prostrate  before  them.  His  simple  mind  could  not  appre- 
ciate the  distinction  between  using  these  as  "  aids  to  devo- 
tion "  and  pure  idolatry.      To  him  it  was  an  abomination. 

Add  to  this  theological  antagonism,  the  lust  of  conquest 
already  begotten  for  the  first  time  in  the  Arab  mind  by  the 
triumphs  of  the  new  faith  on  its  native  soil,  and  the  weak 
and  declining  condition  of  the  nearest  provinces  of  the 
empire,  and  we  have  ready  to  hand  the  causes  for  the  start- 
ing of  the  great  wave  of  Mohammedan  conquest  which  was 
to  astonish  and  well-nigh  subdue  the  world. 

Mohammedan  Conquests. — Syria  was  the  first  theatre  of 
conquest.  By  637  a.d.  it  had  been  torn  from  the  empire, 
and  the  most  holy  shrines  of  the  Christian  faith  were  in 
infidel  hands.  There  is  this  to  be  said  for  the  Moslem  faith  : 
while  it  rejected  simple  Judaism,  and  developed  Christianity, 
nevertheless  its  founder  was  familiar  with  both  the  Old  and 
the  New  Testament,  and  ranked  Moses  and  David  and 
Jesus  as  true  and  honored  prophets  of  the  one  God,  though 


472  THE  ROMAN  PEOPLE. 

of  lesser  note  than  Mohammed.  Jerusalem  was,  in  a  sense, 
a  holy  city  to  the  Moslem,  and  as  such  he  has  held  it  from 
the  seventh  century  till  the  present  day,  with  the  exception 
of  the  few  years  when  the  crusading  zeal  of  Europe  won  it 
from  him  in  the  Middle  Ages. 

Persia,  which  had  recently  been  subdued  by  Heraclius, 
was  next  attacked,  and  fell  an  easy  prey  (632-641  a.d.). 

Thence  the  path  of  conquest  turned  westward,  and  Egypt 
was  reduced  by  the  year  640  a.d.  This  was  a  serious  loss 
to  the  empire.  For  Egypt  was  important  not  only  com- 
mercially, but,  as  the  home  of  great  refinement  and  high 
culture,  was  one  of  the  strongholds  of  civilization. 

The  story  is  told  of  the  soldier  Amrou  writing  to  Omar  the 
caliph,  or  successor  of  Mohammed,  and  asking  instructions  as 
to  what  he  should  do  with  the  wonderful  Alexandrian  library  with 
its  hundreds  of  thousands  of  volumes.  Omar  answered :  "  If 
these  volumes  agree  with  the  Koran,  they  are  unnecessary ;  if 
they  disagree,  they  are  pernicious.  Let  all  be  burned."  But 
the  story  appears  only  long  after  the  alleged  event,  and  contem- 
poraries tell  nothing  of  it.  Indeed  it  is  known  that  the  library 
was  in  use  long  after  the  conquest. 

Westward  still  the  fire  of  conquest  swept,  and  North  Africa 
was  destined  to  another  political  and  religious  transforma- 
tion. Carthage  had  swayed  it  in  the  dawn  of  history,  and 
had  surrendered  to  pagan  Rome;  Rome  had  become  first 
imperial  and  then  Christian;  next  had  come  the  Arian 
Vandals;  once  again  the  orthodox  empire  had  triumphed; 
the  last  turn  of  the  kaleidoscope  placed  the  Saracens  in 
power,  and  so  completely  does  Christianity  vanish  that  no 
part  of  the  world  is  to-day  more  thoroughly  Moslem  than 
North  Africa.     This  had  been  accomplished  by  689  a.d. 

The  Conquest  of  Spain. — Asia  and  Africa  were  not  suffi- 
cient. The  fair  fields  of  Spain  tempted  the  conquerors 
across  the  Strait  of  Gibraltar.  In  711  a.d.  the  transit  was 
made,  and  gradually  the  kingdom  of  the  Visigoths  was  sub- 
dued, to  be  held  until  the  year  of  the  discovery  of  the  new 
world  by  Columbus. 


CHRISTIANITY  AND  MOHAMMEDANISM.  473 

The  Battle  of  Tours. — Farther  north  the  intruders  swept. 
The  Pyrenees  were  passed,  and  it  seemed  as  if  the  Frank 
might  share  the  fate  of  the  Visigoth.  So  he  might,  if  it 
liad  lain  with  the  decadent  line  of  Merovingian  kings  to 
prevent  it.  But  in  the  year  732  a.d.  Karl,  the  prime 
minister  of  the  Frankish  king,  met  the  Saracens  near  Tours, 
and  after  one  of  the  fiercest  battles  of  history  turned  them 
back  forever  from  France.  Who  shall  say  how  different 
might  have  been  the  complexion  of  history  to-day  if  Saracen 
instead  of  Frank  had  won  ?  We  shall  hear,  in  the  later  story, 
of  this  soldier  who  won  for  himself  by  that  day's  victory  the 
title  of  Martcl,  the  Hammer. 

Rival  Caliphates. — Islam,  the  religion  of  Mohammed, 
has  suffered  the  common  fate  of  all  great  religions.  Every 
faith  that  lives  seems  to  propagate  division.  Buddhism  has 
numberless  sects.  Christianity  is  divided  into  Greek, 
Roman,  Coptic,  and  a  hundred  Protestant  branches.  So 
rival  claims  to  the  successorship  of  the  prophet  speedily  and 
inevitably  rose.  And  in  Bagdad  on  the  Tigris,  in  Cairo,  and 
in  Cordova  three  caliphs  each  professed  to  be  the  legitimate 
head  of  the  faithful.  In  this  disunion  was  a  solace  for 
Christianity.  For,  undivided,  the  hosts  of  Islam  might  have 
been  able  to  work  far  worse  mischief  than  they  did  upon  the 
Christian  world. 

As  it  was,  the  eastern  empire  through  all  the  remainder  of 
its  life  had  for  its  chief  task  the  defence  of  its  borders,  and 
finally  of  its  very  capital,  against  the  Moslem. 

Services  of  Islam. — It  is  hardly  within  the  scope  of  this 
history  to  trace  certain  benefits  which  began  to  be  manifest 
only  much  later  than  our  period,  but  some  allusion  to  them 
may  not  be  out  of  place.  The  career  of  Mohammedan  con- 
quest, and  the  presence  of  the  Saracens  in  Spain,  were  not  an 
unmixed  evil.  For  dark  times  were  come  upon  the  old 
Roman  world.  It  had  taken  in  a  vast  mass  of  the  Germanic 
peoples.  These  people  were  indeed  to  be  the  renovators 
and  the  saviors  of  society,  by  virtue  of  certain  qualities  of 


474  THE  ROMAN  PEOPLE, 

theirs  which  we  have  recently  traced.  But  it  took  the  older 
world  a  long  time  to  assimilate  them;  or  better,  it  took 
them  a  long  time  to  assimilate  what  they  found  in  southern 
Europe.  The  work  to  be  done  was  much  the  same  as  if 
among  the  seventy  millions  of  the  United  States  there  were 
injected  a  hundred  million  Chinese  as  conquerors.  They 
might  try  to  carry  on  things  in  our  old  way,  but  would  fail 
of  course.  So  in  Europe  after  the  fifth  century  there  fol- 
lowed five  hundred  years  when  the  invaders  were  getting 
used  to  their  new  surroundings,  when  languages  were  form- 
ing, when  institutions  compounded  of  the  old  and  the  new 
were  crystallizing.  It  was  an  age  first  of  fermentation  and 
later  of  clarifying.  Naturally  we  must  not  look  for  much 
origination  and  advance.  In  these  ages  art  is  dead.  Sculp- 
ture is  unknown,  painting  is  confined  to  illumination  of  a 
few  books  of  devotion,  architecture  is  dormant;  poetry  is 
doggerel,  oratory  finds  no  forum,  and  history  is  monkish 
chronicle;  while  science  is  abandoned.  A  few  great  thinkers 
testify  from  age  to  age  that  human  genius  is  not  dead. 
But  the  era  is  a  winter  of  the  human  mind  in  western 
Europe.  Everywhere  but  in  Spain.  Here  the  Saracens, 
borrowing  from  the  Greeks  whom  they  had  known  in  the 
east,  carry  forward  mathematics  and  physical  science  to  a 
height  beyond  what  the  Greeks  had  known,  and  in  material 
civilization  possessed  refinement  undreamed  of  in  Italy, 
France,  Germany,  or  Britain.  They  were  fairly  tolerant 
too,  and  willing  to  share  their  knowledge  with  the  Christian. 
So  the  latter  sat  at  the  feet  of  the  Moslem  intruder,  and 
learned  his  precious  secrets.  And  thus  the  lamp  of  learning 
was  kept  alight,  ready  to  kindle  the  larger  flame  when  the 
Christians  were  ready  for  the  blaze. 

A  host  of  words,  scientific  terms  and  names  of  products,  tes- 
tify the  debt  of  the  western  world  to  the  intruders  or  their  core- 
ligionists of  the  east.  Alchemy,  alcohol,  almanac,  algebra,  alem- 
bic, alkali,  chemistry,  the  names  of  a  thousand  stars,  are  here 
included.  Muslin  gets  its  name  from  Mosul,  damask  and  the 
damson  plum  from  Damascus,  gauze  from  Gaza,  and  so  on. 


CHRISTIANITY  AND  MOHAMMEDANISM.  475 

And  the  Moslems,  moreover,  by  lopping  off  from  the 
eastern  empire  its  outlying  parts,  which  were  less  purely 
Greek,  possibly  did  it  a  good  service.  For  what  was  left 
was  Greek  and  homogeneous,  and  better  able  to  fight  the 
battle  for  life,  and  to  maintain  its  own  faith  and  its  own 
culture  in  the  troublous  years  from  the  seventh  century  to 
the  fifteenth. 

SOURCES. 

Bede Ecclesiastical  History,   Bk.  I,  cc.    xxiii- 

xxv;  Bk.  II,  cc.  i,  iii;  Bk.  iii,  cc.  iii,  xxv. 
Life  of  St.  Columban  (Translations  and 

Reprints,  University  of  Pennsylvania, 

Vol.  II,  No.  7). 
Henderson Select  Historical  Documents,  Rule  of  St. 

Benedict,  and    The   Donation   of  Con- 

stantine. 
The  Koran Palmer's  Translation  (Sacred  Books  of 

the  East). 
Lane-Poole,  Stanley.   Speeches  and  Table-talk  of  the  Prophet 

Mohammed. 

PARALLEL    READING. 

Gibbon. cc.  xlix-lii. 

Myers cc.  xxviii,  xxxi. 

Miiman History  of  Latin  Christianity,  Bk.  in,  c. 

ii ;  Vol.  II,  Bk.  iv,  cc.  i,  ii. 

Stanley,  A.  P Christian  Institutions. 

SchafT History  of  the  Christian    Church,  Vol. 

Ill,  c.  v;  V9I.  IV,  pp.  17-233. 

Emerton Introduction  to  the  Middle  Ages,  c.  ix. 

Montalembert The  Monks  of  the  West. 

Wishart,  A.  W A    Short  History  of  Monks  and  Monas- 
teries. 

Lecky History  of  European  Morals,  Vol.  Il,  c.  iv. 

Adams Civilization  during  the  Middle  Ages,  cc. 

iii,  vi. 
Muir,  W ....    The  Cordn;  Life  of  Mohammed ;  Annals 

of  the  Early  Caliphate;    The  Rise  and 

Decline  of  Islam. 

Irving,  W Mohammed  and  his  Successors. 

Carlyle Heroes    and  Hero-worship,    Lecture   on 

The  Hero  as  Prophet. 

Freeman,  E.  A History  and  Conquests  of  the  Saracens. 

Gilman,  A The  Saracens  (Nations). 


CHAPTER    XXXIl. 
CHARLES  THE   GREAT  AND   THE   NEW   EMPIRE. 

Conditions  in  the  Eighth  Century. — The  process  of 
amalgamation  of  the  invading  Teutons  and  the  older  citizens 
of  the  empire  went  on  apace  after  the  establishment  of  the 
several  new  kingdoms,  but  with  many  hindrances.  The 
times  were  unsettled.  Governments  were  weak.  Foes  were 
many.  The  Moslem  threat,  particularly,  was  always  present. 
In  Africa  and  Spain  it  had  proved  more  than  a  threat.  The 
Vandal  kingdom  had  utterly  perished.  The  Christians  of 
Spain  were  forced  into  the  mountain  retreats  or  to  accept  a 
position  of  tributary  dependence  upon  the  caliphs.  In  Italy 
there  was  a  threefold  contest  going  on.  The  Lombards  held 
their  duchies  at  various  points  in  the  peninsula.  Part  of  it 
was  still  subject  to  the  eastern  emperors,  and  administered 
by  the  exarch  at  Ravenna.  The  pope  was  looked  upon  by 
many  as  the  leading  character  in  Italy,  although  he  was 
nominally  subject  to  the  emperor.  There  was  continued 
friction  among  these  three  powers. 

Some  progress  of  course  was  being  made  even  in  Italy,  as 
well  as  in  Gaul  and  Spain.  German  and  Roman  were 
coming  to  understand  one  another  better;  to  borrow  from 
each  other's  speech  and  law  and  custom.  The  Christian 
Church  was  acting  as  the  great  solvent  and  compounder  of 
the  diverse  elements  of  society.  Slowly  were  being  formed 
what  we  now  call  the  Romance  peoples  and  the  Romance 
languages.  The  one  need  of  the  times  was  law  and  order. 
Let  settled   conditions   come,    and    society  was  bound   to 

476 


30 


EUKOPE 

IN  THE  TIME  OF 

CHARLES  THE  GREAT 
814 


Lr-^^-s/- 


IxaV^"^ 


\ 


,-E.aesS» 


^tlocV* 


>^oO'' 


50 


Alexniitii 


mzmmmm^^ 


E.  F.    FISK,  ENGR. 


CHARLES    THE   GREAT  AND    THE  hlEl^'  EMPIRE.     4  77 

progress.  For  the  soil  was  good,  and  the  seed,  which  haid 
long  been  sown,  was  full  of  vitality. 

The  Prankish  Kingdom. — The  one  exception  among  the 
new  kingdoms  was  the  Prankish.  We  do  not  say  France, 
because  the  limits  of  France  to-day  are  quite  different  from 
those  of  the  kingdom  we  are  studying.  It  must  steadily  be 
borne  in  mind  that  it  was  rather  German  than  French  in  any 
modern  sense. 

These  Franks  were  almost  the  only  one  of  the  barbarian 
peoples  who  since  their  advent  to  power  had  been  able  to 
hold  their  own  and  more.  For  one  thing,  they  were  very 
numerous.  Many  tribes  were  in  more  or  less  real  subjection 
to  the  Frankish  king.  Their  territory  was  immense,  extend- 
ing from  far  into  what  is  now  central  Germany  to  the  Bay 
of  Biscay.  They  were  far  enough  from  Constantinople  to 
be  out  of  the  reach  of  interference  and  intrigue  from  that 
source.  Unfortunate  Spain  was  a  barrier  for  them  against 
the  Moslems.  Only  once  had  the  hordes  of  Islam  seriously 
threatened  them.  The  story  of  the  battle  of  Tours  has  been 
told.  There  was  also  in  the  Franks  a  native  energy  and 
capacity  for  progress  that  marked  them  out  as  the  people 
who,  under  the  favoring  circumstances  just  named,  were 
bound  to  make  rapid  progress.  What  was  needed  just  at 
this  epoch  was  the  advent  of  some  man  of  wide  view  and 
great  organizing  power.  Events  were  shaping  toward  the 
production  of  just  such  a  man. 

The  Mayors  of  the  Palace. — Clovis  had  been  every  inch 
a  king.  But  the  expected  had  happened  in  his  house,  and 
his  successors  were  unable  to  sustain  his  royal  tradition. 
Weaker  and  weaker  grew  the  Merovingians,  until  in  the 
early  eighth  century  we  find  them  but  shadows.  The  title 
of  les  rois  faineants,  the  do-nothing  kings,  has  been  bestowed 
upon  them.  But  when  such  weaklings  occupy  and  degrade 
a  throne,  the  real  power  necessarily  falls  into  abler  hands, 
or  else  anarchy  comes.  That  it  did  not  come  among  the 
Franks  was  due  to  certain  able  administrators.     These  men 


478  THE  ROMAN  PEOPLE. 

bore  the  title  of  **  mayors  of  the  palace."  The  office  finally, 
like  that  of  the  king,  had  become  hereditary.  Its  occupants 
became  more  and  more  powerful.  Charles,  who  came  to  it 
in  succession  to  his  father  Pippin,  won  for  himself  the  name 
of  Martel,  the  Hammer,  by  his  repulse  of  the  Moslems  at 
Tours  (732  A.D.).  His  son  Pippin  won  for  himself  not  only 
the  royal  power,  but  the  royal  name  as  well. 

Pippin  becomes  King. — It  will  be  remembered  that  from 
their  first  conversion  the  Franks  had  been  orthodox  Catho- 
lics, and  not  Arians  as  were  most  of  the  Germanic  invaders. 
On  this  fact  hung  mighty  issues.  It  served  to  link  the 
Franks  and  the  papacy  in  very  close  union  during  the  times 
when  the  church  was  troubled  by  Arian  hatred  and  opposi- 
tion. And  at  the  period  now  under  review  the  papacy  was 
in  sore  straits.  For  the  Lombards,  who  seem  to  have  been 
the  least  tractable  of  the  invading  nations,  were  harrying  the 
pope,  not  so  much  with  their  heresies,  as  by  trespassing 
upon  the  territories  which  he  deemed  his  own.  The  popes 
at  this  time,  too,  were  at  least  the  nominal  subjects  of  the 
emperors  at  Constantinople.  But  the  iconoclastic  warfare 
had  broken  out,  and  there  was  bad  blood  between  the 
secular  and  the  spiritual  capitals.  Finally  the  pope  excom- 
municated the  emperor.  At  this  juncture  the  Lombard  king 
attacked  the  pope,  and  the  latter,  in  despair,  turned  toward 
his  faithful  Franks  for  aid.  Just  as  the  peril  becomes  acute, 
Pippin,  son  and  successor  of  Charles  Martel,  asks  the  pope 
a  question:  "  Who  should  be  king;  he  who  possesses  only 
the  name  or  he  who  has  the  power?"  The  answer  is 
simple.  The  pope  gives  consent  to  the  deposition  of  the 
last  Merovingian  sovereign,  and  Pippin  by  Prankish  election 
and  Roman  anointing  becomes  king  of  the  Franks.  His 
dynasty  is  known  as  the  Carolingian,  from  the  name  of  his 
great  son,  Charles.  King  Pippin  speedily  rewards  his 
spiritual  father  by  hastening  to  his  aid  against  the  Lombards. 
The  territory  of  which  he  despoils  them  he  does  not  keep 
for  himself,  but  bestows  it  upon  the  pope.    In  all  probability 


CHARLES    THE   GREAT  AND   THE  NEIV  EMPIRE.     479 


this  is  the  real  beginning  of  the  temporal  power  of  the  pope; 
that  is,  his  claim  to  rule  not  merely  as  spiritual  lord  over  the 
church,  but  as  secular  ruler  over  a  definite  territory  as  well. 
About  this  time,  also,  the  fiction  was  published  and  believed 
that  Constantine  when  he  abandoned  Rome  as  his  capital 
gave  the  territory  thereabouts  to  Pope  Sylvester  in  return  for 
a  wonderful  cure  wrought  by  the  latter. 

Charles  the  Great.— King  Pippin  died  in  768  a.d.  His 
son  Charles  soon  came  into 
undivided  possession  of  his 
sovereignty.  And  he  it  is  whom 
we  shall  now  find  closing  one 
great  age  of  the  history  of  the 
Roman  empire  and  beginning 
another. 

Charles  was  cast  in  a  large 
mold,  both  physically  and  men- 
tally. He  would  probably  have 
added  spiritually  as  well.  For 
he  considered  himself,  like  Con- 
stantine and  Theodoric  and 
Clovis,  a  pillar  of  the  church. 
Yet,  as  in  the  case  of  his  great  predecessors,  his  Christianity 
was  more  a  matter  of  outward  form  than  of  inward  convic- 
tion; for  the  lives  of  all  these  great  men  were  stained  by 
deeds  of  ferocious  cruelty.  Nevertheless  Charles  posed  as 
the  reformer  of  the  church  and  the  special  protector  of  the 
papacy. 

His  activity  was  many-sided.  He  was  soldier,  statesman, 
and  law-giver,  as  well  as  churchman.  His  long  reign  was 
filled  with  military  campaigns.  On  his  northeastern  frontier 
the  Saxons  were  to  be  subdued,  and  to  this  task,  which  the 
Romans  had  never  been  able  to  accomplish,  he  bent  his 
energies,  and  after  many  years  of  fighting  he  reduced  these 
peoples  to  subjection  and  to  a  nominal  acceptance  of 
Christianity. 


^^^^s^ 


CHAKLEMAGNH. 


48o 


THE  ROMAN  PEOPLE. 


The  presence  of  the  Mohammedans  to  the  south  was 
another  irritation,  and  he  turned  his  arms  against  them.  He 
succeeded  in  freeing  Spain  as  far  south  as  the  Ebro  from 
their  control.  In  this  section  is  to  be  found  to-day  the 
most  progressive  part  of  Spain.  And  some  historians  have 
seen  in  its  early  deliverance  by  Charles  from  the  Moslem 


THE    CATHEDRAL  AT   AACHEN, 


yoke  one  of  the  secrets  of  its  advance  beyond  the  rest  ot 
Spain. 

A  third  enemy  who  challenged  him  was  the  Lombard  in 
Italy.  Into  this  war  the  hereditary  connection  of  his  house 
with  the  popes  drew  him.  For  again  the  Lombards  were 
harassing  the  pope.  And  once  again  the  appeal  came  to  the 
faithful  Franks.  Charles  responded  and  completely  subdued 
the  Lombard  king,  seizing  the  famous  iron  crown  of  Lom- 

*  The  domed  octagon  ib  the  only  part  attributed  to  Charlemagne. 


CHARLES   THE   GREAT  AND   THE  NEW  EMPIRE.     481 

bardy,  made  from  a  nail  of  the  cross,  and  placing  it  upon 
his  own  head.  As  an  incident  of  this  war  the  donation  of 
Pippin  to  the  pope  was  confirmed. 

The  Imperial  Crown. — Once  more  Charlemagne  was 
called  to  Rome  to  help  the  pope  in  a  time  of  disturbance, 
^nd  while  he  was  worshipping  in  the  great  basilica  of 
St.  Peter  on  Christmas  Day,  800  a.d.,  the  pope  suddenly 
placed  upon  the  head  of  the  man  who  was  already  king  of 
the  Franks  and  of  Lombardy  a  new  diadem,  one  which 
marked  him  as  Roman  emperor.  The  title  by  which  he  was 
proclaimed  was  "  Charles  Augustus  crowned  by  God,  great 
and  pacific  emperor."  Later  he  assumed  the  title  **  Charles 
the  most  serene  Augustus,  Pious,  Fortunate,  governing  the 
Roman  empire,  and  also  by  the  mercy  of  God  king  of  the 
Franks  and  the  Lombards." 

It  has  been  much  discussed  whether  Charles  knew  before- 
hand that  he  was  to  be  crowned  that  day,  and  by  such  a 
title.  It  would  hardly  seem  possible  that  the  pope  could 
do  such  a  thing  without  having  some  quite  definite  idea  of 
what  the  feelings  of  the  great  man  were.  But  a  plausible 
explanation  seems  to  be  that  Charles  was  meditating  some 
such  assumption  of  imperial  dignity,  and  that  the  pope  at 
most  anticipated  what  was  sure  to  come. 

The  Theory  of  the  New  Empire. — What  the  idea  of  pope 
and  emperor  was  can  best  be  understood  by  a  review  of  the 
situation  as  regards  the  Roman  empire  of  that  time. 

The  authority  of  Constantinople  had  for  some  time  been 
extinct  in  Italy.  Its  emperor  had  failed  to  protect  the  pope 
against  the  Lombards.  The  Frank  had  shown  himself  able 
and  willing  to  afford  such  protection.  Moreover,  the  eastern 
empire  had  become  entirely  Greek  in  language  and  mode  of 
thought.  Its  theological  tone  was  different  from  that  of 
western  Europe.  The  iconoclastic  controversy  had  inserted 
another  wedge  between  east  and  west.  And  last  of  all,  a 
grave  scandal  had  caused  western  Christendom  to  look  with 
very  angry  countenance  upon  the  court  at  Constantinople. 


482 


THE  ROMAN  PEOPLE. 


Irene,  the  mother  of  the  emperor  Constantine  VI.,  had 
deposed  and  blinded  her  son,  and  now  was  reigning  in  her 
own  name  as  empress.  Such  a  proceeding  was  on  the  one 
side  criminal,  and  on  the  other  a  political  innovation. 

The  west  therefore  had  cause  to  feel  that  the  empire  was 
vacant  and  needed  to  be  reconstituted.  It  must  be  born^ 
in  mind  all  through  that  the  controlling  idea  was  that  the 


a|i<lar(rt)i  <:jM8.r»cy Vujk^ua; 


MONOGRAM    OF   CHARLEMAGNE. 


empire  was  indivisible.^  In  theory  the  whole  west  owed 
allegiance  to  the  sole  emperor.  It  is  even  asserted  that 
Charlemagne's  idea  was  to  reunite  east  and  west  by  a  mar- 
riage with  Irene.  Certain  it  is  that  after  his  coronation  he 
sought  from  the  Byzantine  court  a  recognition  of  his  claims. 
This  was  never  accorded,  though  in  later  times  the  court  at 

*  In  speaking  of  the  empire  since  its  partition  in  395  a.d.  the  terms 
"  eastern  "  and  "western  "  empire  have  been  freely  used.  Technically 
this  is  wrong.  Such  a  distinction  was  unknown  till  after  the  time  of 
CharJemagne.  But  it  was  a  practical  one,  and  it  seems  unavoidable  to 
make  use  of  it. 


CHARLES   THE   GREAT  AND    THE  NEIV  EMPIRE.      483 

Byzantium,  in  dealing  with  the  Roman  emperors,  for  diplo- 
matic reasons  did  condescend  to  address  them  as  such  on 
a  very  few  occasions. 

There  was  another  reason  which  controlled  the  church  in 
the  part  it  played.  The  idea  of  one  undivided  church  had 
taken  solid  shape  under  the  growing  papacy.  And  the 
necessary  accompaniment  of  such  a  church  was  a  secular 
government  to  correspond.  The  Byzantine  end  of  the 
empire  had  failed  to  show  itself  the  harmonious  counterpart 
of  the  one  Catholic  Church.  The  hope  was  that  in  the 
revived  empire  of  Charles  there  should  be  found  such  a 
fitting  counterpart.  Church  and  state  were  to  work  hand 
in  hand  for  the  wise  control  of  the  Christian  world.  That 
such  an  idea  was  a  dream  the  future  history  of  the  empire 
and  the  papacy  was  to  demonstrate.  But  the  idea  was  a 
potent  one  at  the  time. 

The  Work  of  Charlemagne, — The  method  of  the  great 
monarch's  government  belongs  to  a  new  phase  of  history 
which  lies  beyond  our  scope.  For  while  in  a  large  sense 
the  work  of  Augustus  and  Constantine  was  revived  under 
him,  yet  in  detail,  as  in  spirit,  the  new  administration  was 
conceived  and  carried  out  along  Germanic  rather  than 
Roman  lines.  Charles  has  been  alluded  to  as  soldier,  states- 
man, and  churchman.  He  made  his  influence  strongly  felt 
in  all  three  provinces. 

As  churchman  he  w^as  master  rather  than  servant  of  the 
church.  Even  the  pope  was  subject  to  him.  He  convened 
synods  and  councils.  Under  his  direction  many  reforms 
were  instituted,  especially  in  the  monastic  life,  which  had 
grown  somewhat  lax  in  the  general  looseness  of  the  times. 

As  statesman  he  governed  carefully  and  strongly.  Laws 
were  issued  and  enforced  by  the  careful  inspection  of  royal 
commissioners  sent  out  two  and  two,  a  churchman  and  a 
count,  into  every  district.  These  inspectors  were  called 
missi  dominici. 

Education  was  a  great  concern  with  him.     He  summoned 


^484  THE  ROMAN  PEOPLE. 

to  his  aid  Alcuin,  archbishop  of  York  in  England,  who  had 
made  his  mark  as  one  of  the   foremost   men  of  his  age. 


ST.    MATTHEW,     FROM    HVANGKl.IARIUM    FOUND    IN    TOMB    OF   CHARLEMAGNE 

Under  him  a  system  of  schools  was  devised  to  remedy  the. 
pitiable   ignorance   of   the   times.       Charles   was   specially 


CHARLES   THE   GREAT  AND    THE  NEIV  EMPIRE.     4^5 

solicitous  about  the  ignorance  of  the  clergy,  and  caused 
sermons  to  be  prepared  for  their  use. 

Charles  was  not  French,  but  German.  It  is  typical  of  the 
new  era  that  the  legacy  of  the  Caesars  had  fallen  at  last  to 
one  of  another  race  and  speech — the  German. 

His  fame  extended  far.  Stories  are  told  of  his  friendship 
and  interchange  of  courtesies  with  Haroun  al  Raschid,  the 
caliph  of  Bagdad.  He  is  without  doubt  the  one  colossal 
figure  of  the  earlier  Middle  Ages.  His  impress  is  wide  and 
deep  upon  subsequent  history,  though  many  of  his  peculiar 
institutions  were  evanescent,  and  his  dynasty  soon  passed 
away.  But  he  did  enough  to  give  new  life  to  the  imperial 
system,  and  to  teach  men  that  the  ideal  was  a  united 
Christendom,  politically  and  ecclesiastically. 

The  great  king  died  in  814  a.d.,  and  was  buried  in  the 
minster  he  himself  had  founded  at  Aachen  (Aix-la-Chapelle), 
his  German  capital.  He  was  left  sitting  upon  a  throne, 
with  the  crown  upon  his  head,  his  sword  in  his  hand,  and 
open  in  his  lap  a  copy  of  the  Holy  Scriptures:  symbolizing 
his  mighty  work  as  conqueror,  lawgiver,  and  chief  servant 
of  the  church. 

SOURCES. 

Einhard Lzye  of  the  Emperor  Karl  the  Great. 

Capitulary  and  Inventory  of  Charles  the 
Great,  in  Vol.  ii,  No  2,  Translations 
and  Reprints,  University  of  Pennsyl- 
vania. 
Laws  of  Charles  the  Great,  ibid.,  Vol.  vi. 
No.  5. 

Henderson Select  Historical  Documents,  Capitulary 

of  Charlemagiie. 

PARALLEL  READING. 

Gibbon c.  xl  ix. 

Myers c.  xxxii. 

Botsford c.  xiv. 

Bryce T/ie  Holy  Roman  Empire,  cc.  iv,  v,  xxi. 

Adams Civilization    during   the    Middle   Ages, 

c.  vii. 


486  THE  ROMAN  PEOPLE 

Hodgkin Charles  the  Great  (Foieign  Statesmen) ; 

Italy  and  her  Invaders. 

Mombert,  J.  I A  History  of  Charles  the  Great, 

Davis,  H.  W.  C Charlemagne  (Heroes) 

Freeman,  E.  A The  Chief  Periods  of  European  History, 

Lectures  in,  iv. 
Thatcher  and  Schwill .   Europe  and  the  Middle  Age,  c.  v. 
Emerton Introduction  to  the  Middle  Ages,  cc.  xii- 

XIV. 

Sergeant,  L Thi  Franks  (Nalions). 


APPENDIX   A. 

THE   ROMAN    ASSEMBLIES. 

I.  The  Comitia  Curiata. 

a.  It  was  the  oldest  assembly,  dating  from  the  royal  times. 

b.  It  was  presided  over  by  the  king ;  later  by  the  consul  or 
magistrate  of  high  rank.  The  auspices  must  be  taken  before 
its  meeting. 

c.  It  was  made  up  of  all  citizens,  voting  by  head  in  each  of 
thirty  curiae,  and  thus  determining  the  vote  of  the  curia.  A 
majority  of  the  tliirty  curiae  decided  the  question. 

d.  (i)  Its  chief  function  was  to  pass  the  lex  de  imperzo,  giving 
to  a  magistrate  already  elected  the  wtperzutu,  or  power  of  life 
and  death.  * 

(2)  It  dealt  also  with  other  questions  chiefly  relating  to  matters 
of  transfer  from  one  gens  to  another,  with  wills,  adoptions,  and 
the  like. 


In  the  time  of  Cicero  the  meetings  of  this  body  were  fre- 
quently attended  only  by  thirty  lictors  representing  the  thirty 
curiae  and  by  three  augurs. 

II.  The  Comitia  Centuriata. 

(7.  Originating  as  a  military  organization  under  Servius,  it  was 
natural  that  it  should  assume  political  power  very  rapidly  in  the 
later  monarchy  and  earlier  republic. 

/;.  It  met  in  the  Campus  Martins  ;  was  presided  over  by  the 
consul  or  some  magistrate  possessing  the  imperium.  It  required 
the  taking  of  the  auspices. 

c.  It  was  made  up  of  all  citizens.     They  voted  at  first  accord- 

487 


488  THE  ROMAN  PEOPLE. 

ing  to  the  arrangement  of  Servius,  in  193  centuries,  of  whom 
the  knights  made  up  the  first  18,  and  the  centuries  of  the  wealthy 
first  class  the  next  80,  giving  to  the  knights  and  first  class,  if 
they  agreed,  a  majority,  so  that  there  was  no  occasion  for  the 
lower  classes  to  vote. 

About  241  B.C.  a  reform  was  instituted,  which  gave  the  organ- 
ization of  this  body  more  relation  to  the  tribes.  Under  the  new 
arrangement  the  members  of  the  35  tribes  were  divided  into  10 
centuries,  5  each  of  juniors  and  seniors,  making  350.  To  these 
were  added,  as  under  the  old  arrangement,  18  centuries  of 
knights,  4  of  artificers,  and  i  of  the  proletarii,  making  373  in 
all.  Wealth  thus  had  no  longer  the  same  power  as  of  old,  since 
the  knights  and  the  70  new  centuries  of  the  first  class  could 
muster  but  88  votes  out  of  the  total  373.  The  only  advantage 
wealth  had  lay  in  the  fact  that  the  centuries  of  the  upper  classes 
were  smaller  than  those  of  the  lower.  But  the  number  of  cen- 
turies in  each  class  was  now  equal. 

Within  the  century  the  voting  was  by  head. 

d.  (i)  It  elected  the  magistrates  who  had  the  imperium  :  con- 
suls, praetors;  also  the  censors  and  decemvirs  and  consular 
tribunes  when  the  two  latter  classes  were  in  existence. 

(2)  Appeal  lay  to  it  from  all  capital  sentences  affecting  a  citizen. 

(3)  It  passed  laws  {leges).  In  the  later  republic  laws  were  for 
the  most  part  passed  either  in  the  comitia  tributa  or  in  the 
consiliuin  piebis. 

(4)  It  declared  offensive  war  and  ratified  featies.  After  287 
B.C.  the  consent  of  the  senate  was  no  longer  necessary  to  the 
validity  of  its  enactments. 


The  empire  transferred  to  the  princeps  the  war  and  treaty 
powers  of  this  assembly.  Tiberius  took  from  it  the  power  of  elec- 
tion, giving  it  to  ihe  senate,  and  leaving  to  the  assembly  simply 
a  formal  act  of  ratification.  This  formality  is  found  down  to  the 
times  just  before  Diocletian,  in  the  case  of  imperial  elections. 

III.  The  Concilium  Piebis. 

a.  This  body  originated  with  the  election  of  the  first  tribunes 
of  the  people,  494  B.C.  It  rapidly  increased  in  power  and  soon 
came  to  be  coordinate  with  the  comitia  centuriatain  legislation. 


APPENDIX  A.  489 

b.  It  could  be  summoned  only  by  a  plebeian  official,  tribune, 
or  aedile.  Its  common  meeting-place  was  the  Forum.  No  aus- 
pices were  necessary  until  a  law  of  the  year  155  B.C.  required 
them. 

c.  Only  plebeian  citizens  could  vote.  This  tliey  did  at  first 
by  curiae,  but  after  472  B.C.  by  tribes. 

d.  (i)  It  elected  the  tribunes  and  plebeian  aediles. 

(2)  Appeals  lay  to  it  from  fines  imposed  by  these  officials.  In 
the  later  republic  its  judicial  power  was  considerably  increased, 
until  finally  the  same  cause  which  took  away  the  criminal  juris 
diction  of  the  centuriate  comitia  also  took  away  that  of  the 
plebeian  council.  This  was  the  institution  of  the  qucestiones 
PerpetucE. 

(3)  By  the  year  287  B.C.  it  had  been  accepted  that  the  resolu- 
tions of  the  concilium  plebis  had  the  same  force  as  laws  {leges) 
passed  in  the  centuriate  a-sembly  From  that  time  on  the  con- 
silium and  comitia  tributa  became  tiic  favorite  organs  of  legisla- 
tion. 

IV.  The  Comitia  Tributa. 

a.  That  there  was  any  such  organization  different  from  the 
foregoing  concilium  plebis  is  strenuously  denied,  but  the  great 
authority  of  Mommsen  pronounces  for  the  fact  of  its  existence. 
Its  origin  cannot  be  traced  to  any  definite  legal  act  or  political 
crisis.  It  seems  to  have  come  into  being  as  a  consequence  of 
the  organization  of  the  plebeians.  Their  gatherings,  at  first 
tribal,  were  found  so  convenient  that  the  v^hoXe  populus,  includ- 
ing the  patricians,  were  anxious  for  a  similar  organization. 
Hence  its  beginning  is  traced  to  the  middle  of  the  fifth  century 

B.C. 

b.  It  was  presided  over  by  the  consul,  praetor,  or  curule  aedile. 
The  meeting-place  was  the  Forum.     Auspices  were  taken. 

c.  All  citizens  could  vote.  Voting  was  first  of  all  within  the 
tribes  and  by  head  ;  the  majority  of  the  tribes  decided  ;  there 
were  21  tribes  in  471  B.C.,  and  after  that  time  35. 

d.  (i)  It  elected  curule  aediles,  quaestors,  and  24  tribunes  of 
the  soldiers. 

(2)  Appeals  lay  to  it  from  sentences  of  curule  aediles  or  the 
pontifex  maximus. 


490  THE  ROMAN  PEOPLE, 

(3)  It  enacted  most  laws  proposed  by  praetors,  and  after  200 
B.C.  a  majority  of  those  introduced  by  the  consuls. 


The  consent  of  the  senate  was  not  necessary  to  the  validity 
of  its  enactments  after  287  B.C. 

A  peculiar  function  of  this  body  was  that  17  tribes,  chosen  by 
lot,  elected  the  pontifex  maxim  us,  and  after  104  B.C.  the  pon- 
tiffs, augurs,  and  several  other  priestly  colleges  were  elected  in 
the  same  manner. 


J- '97 


APPENDIX    B. 

ROMAN   PROVINCES  IN  ORDER   OF  THEIR   ACQUI- 
SITION  OR   ORGANIZATION.' 

I    Under  the  Republic. 

1.  Silicia B.C.  241 

2.  Sardinia  and  Corsica 231 

3.  Hispania  Citerior 

4.  "         Ulterior 

5.  Illyricum 167-45 

6.  Macedonia  and  Achaia 146 

7.  Africa 146 

S.Asia 133 

9.  Gallia  Narbonensis 1 20 

10.  Gallia  Cisalpina 81? 

1 1 .  Bithynia 74 

^^  j  Cyrene 74 

*  )  Creta 67 

(  Cilicia 64 

^^1  Cyprus 58 

14.  Syria 64 

II.  Under  the  Empire. 

1 5.  iEgyptus 30 

16.  Moesia 29? 

1 7.  Lusitania  (by  subdivision) 27 .? 

18.  Achaia  (by  subdivision) 27 

19.  Galatia 25 

20.  Cyprus  (by  subdivision) 22 

'  From  Bouch^-Leclercq's  Manutl  des  Institutions  Romaines. 

49X 


29-  Germania  Superior 

30.  "  Inferior    \ 


492  THE  ROMAN  PEOPLE, 

21.  Aquitania       ) 

22.  Lugdunensis  >• 16 

23.  Belgica  ) 

24.  Rhaetia     ) 

25.  Noricum  j '5 

26.  Alpes  Maritimac 14 

27.  Pannonia a.d.     10 

28.  Cappadocia 17 

( 

31.  Mauretania  Tingitana     ) 

32.  "  Caesariensis  ) 

33.  Pamphylia  and  Lycia ...   43 

34.  Britannia 43 

35.  Thracia 46 

36.  Alpes  Cottiae under  Nero 

37.  Epirus  (by  subdivision) "      Vespasian 

38.  Arabia 105 

39.  Dacia   107 

40.  Armenia  J 

41.  Mesopotamia  >• 115 

42.  Assyria  ) 

43.  Alpes  Penninae  (by  subdivision) 2d  century 

44.  Numidia  (by  subdivision). . . 193-21 1 


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APPENDIX  D. 

TABLE   OF  THE   EMPERORS. 

49-44  B.C.  Caesar  (Caius  Julius  Caesar). 

27  B.C. — 14  A.D.  Augustus. 

14.  Tiberius  (Tiberius  Claudius  Nero). 

37.  Caligula  (Caius  Caesar). 

41.  Claudius  (Tiberius  Claudius). 

54.  Nero  (Nero  Claudius). 

68.  Galba  (Servius  Sulpicius  Galba). 

69.  Otho  (Marcus  Salvius  Otho). 
69.  Vitellius. 

69.  Vespasian  (Titus  Flavius  Vespasianus). 

79.  Titus. 

81.  Domitian  (Titus  Flavius  Domitianus). 

96.  Nerva. 

98.  Trajan. 

117.  Hadrian. 

138.  Antoninus. 

161.  Marcus  Aurelius. 

180.  Commodus. 


193.   Pertinax  (Publius  Helvius  Pertinax). 

193.   Didius  (Julianus). 

193.  Septimius  Severus. 

211.  Caracalla  (Marcus  Aurelius  Antoninus  Bassianus). 

217.  Macrinus 

2tfi.  Heliogabalus. 

494 


APPENDIX  D.  495 

222.  Alexander  Severus. 
235.  Maximian. 

238.  Gordian  (I.)  and  his  son  (II.). 
238.  Pupienus  and  Balbinus. 
^83.  Gordian  the  Younger  (III.). 
244.  Philip  the  Arabian. 
249.  Decius. 
251.    Gallus. 
253.  .^milianus. 
253.  Valerian  and  Gallienus. 

260.  Gallienus.     Period  of  Usurpers  (T^/^/y/y  Tyrants). 
268.  Claudius. 
•  270.  Aurelian  (Lucius  Domitius). 

275.  Tacitus. 

276.  Florianus. 
276.  Probus. 

282.  Carus  (Marcus  Aurelius  Carus). 
284.  Diocletian. 

286.  Diocletian  Atigusius  and  Maximian  Augustus  abdicated 
together. 

305.  Galerius  Augustus  and  Constantius  Chlorus  Augustus. 

306.  Galerius  Augustus  and  Severus  Augustus, 

{  306-311.    Galerius. 
306-313.   Maximian  Daza. 


All  Augustt 

306-337.  Constantine. 

in  307. 

306-312.   Maxentius. 

306-310.    Maximian. 

.  307-324.  Licinius. 

306.  Constantine  (Flavius  Constantinus) 

(  337-340.  Constantine  II. 

\  337-350.  Constans. 

(  337-361.  Constantius. 

360-363.  Julian. 

363.  Jovian. 

364.  Valentinian  } 

364.  Valen.           }«>g«'her. 

367.  Gratian               /  ^        . 
379.  Valentinian  li.  r"^"''^'- 

379.  Theod 

osius. 

496 


THE  ROMAN  PEOPLE. 


Western  Emperors. 


Eastern  Emperors. 


395.  Honorius. 

395- 

Arca;dius. 

423.  Theodosius  II. 

408. 

Theodosius. 

425.  Valentiniati. 

450. 

Marcian. 

455.  Petronius  Maximus. 

457. 

Leo  I. 

455.  Avitus. 

474. 

Leo  11. 

457.  Majorian. 

474- 

Leno. 

461-465.  Libius  Severus. 

491. 

Anastasius  I. 

467.  Anthemius. 

5.8. 

Justin  I. 

472.  Olybrius. 

527. 

Justinian. 

473.  Glycerius. 

565. 

Justin  II. 

474.  Julius  Nepos. 

578. 

Tiberius  II. 

475.  Romulus  Augustulus. 

582. 

Mauricius. 

602. 

Phocas. 

800-814.  Charles  the  Great. 

610. 

Heraclius. 

641. 

Constantine  1 1  Lor  Herac- 
lius II. 

641. 

Heracleonas. 

641. 

Constans  II. 

668. 

Constantine    IV.     Pogo- 

•■       -' 

natus. 

685. 

Justinian  11. 

695. 

Leontius. 

698. 

Tiberius  Absimarus. 

704. 

Justinian  II.  (again). 

711. 

Philippicus. 

713. 

Anastasius  IL 

716. 

Theodosius  III. 

717. 

Leo  III.,  the  I  saurian. 

741. 

Constantinus  V.  or  VI. 

775- 

Leo  IV. 

780. 

Constantine  VL  or  VII. 

797. 

Irene. 

802. 

Nicephorus. 

811. 

Stauracius. 

811- 

813.  Michael  L  Rhangabe. 

APPENDIX  E. 


CHRONOLOGICAL   TABLE   OF   IMPORTANT 
EVENTS.' 

Up  to  the  third  century  the  majority  of  dates  in  Roman  his- 
tory are  uncertain,  or  at  least  vary  by  a  number  of  years,  accord- 
ing to  the  method  employed  in  calculation. 

I  have  followed  the  chronology  of  Varro,  who  places  the 
founding  of  Rome  in  753  B.C. 

About  the  tenth  century  the  Etruscans  settled  in  Etruria,  and 
Greek  colonists  founded  the  city  of  Cumae. 

753  (?)  B.C.  Rome  was  founded  on  the  Palatine  Hill. 

753-756.  Romulus.  616-578.  Tarquinius. 

715-672.  Numa.  578-534.  Servius  Tullius. 

672-640.  Tullus  Hostilius.      534-510.  Tarquinius  Superbus. 

640-616.  Ancus  Martins. 

In  the  sixth  century  the  Gauls  settled  in  the  valley  of  the  Po. 

510  (.?).  The  king  was  replaced  by  two  consuls. 

509.  The  consuls  consecrated  the  temple  of  Jupiter  Capito- 
linus. 

507  (?).   Porsenna  laid  siege  to  Rome. 

498.  Creation  of  first  dictator. 

496  (?).  The  Romans  defeated  the  Latins  near  the  Lake  of 
Regillus. 

494  (?).  The  plebeians  retired  to  the  Sacred  Mount. 

493.  Rome  concluded  a  perpetual  alliance  with  the  Latins. 
Creation  of  tribunes  of  the  plebs. 

488  (?).  Coriolanus  came  to  attack  Rome  with  a  Volscian 
army. 

1  The  dates  given  for  the  reign  of  each  king  are  legendary. 

497 


49^  THE  ROMAN  PEOPLE. 

477  (?).  The  306  Fabii  were  surprised  and  massacred. 

458  (?).  Cincinnatus  conquared  the  ^qui. 

450.  The  Decemvirs  drew  up  the  Laws  of  the  Twelve  Tables. 

449.  Expulsion  of  the  Decemvirs. 

445.  Pa-sage  of  a  law  permitting  marriage  between  patrician 
and  plebeian.  Creation  of  "  tribunes  of  the  soldiers  with  con- 
sular power." 

443.  Censorship  established. 

405.  Rome  began  war  against  Veii  (405-396).  Currency 
established. 

396.  Veii  taken  and  destroyed. 

390.  The  Gauls  put  the  Roman  army  to  flight  near  the  Allia, 
took  Rome,  besieged  the  Capitol,  and  withdrew  on  payment  of 
a  ransom. 

367.  The  Gauls  plundered  the  outskirts  of  Rome. 

367  or  366.  The  Licinian  law  provided  that  one  consul  should 
be  a  plebeian. 

343-341  {}).  First  war,  possibly  legendary,  against  the  Sam- 
nites. 

340.  The  Latins  revolted  and  were  defeated  near  Vesuvius. 

338.   Rome  destroyed  the  Latin  Confederation. 

326.   Rome  made  war  on  the  Samnites  (326-304). 

321.  The  Roman  army,  entrapped  in  the  Forks  of  Caudium, 
capitulated  and  passed  under  the  yoke. 

310  (J).  The  Etruscans  entered  upon  war  with  Rome  and 
were  defeated. 

304.  The  vanquished  Samnites  made  peace. 

298  (?).  Renewal  of  Samnite  war  (298-290). 

295.  Defeat  of  Samnites  and  Gauls  at  Sentinum. 

290.  The  Samnites  were  overcome  and  surrendered.  Curius 
Dentatus  subdued  the  Sabines. 

284.  Rome  conquered  the  territory  of  the  Senonese  Gauls. 

283.  Defeat  of  Etruscans  and  Boii  (Gauls)  at  Lake  Vadinio. 

282-  Rome  subjugated  the  Etruscans. 

281.    Tarentum  made  war  on  Rome  (281-272). 

280.  Pyrrhus,  called  to  aid  Tarentum,  defeated  the  Romans 
at  Heraclea. 

279.  Pyrrhus,  victorious  at  Asculum,  concluded  a  truce. 

275.  Pyrrhus  was  defeated  at  Beneventum. 


APPENDIX  E.  499 

272.  Rome  took  Tarentum  and  subjugated  the  peoples  of 
central  Italy. 

266.   Rome  completed  the  subjugation  of  Italy. 

264.   Rome  began  the  first  Punic  war  in  Sicily  (264-241). 

263.  Hiero,  king  of  Syracuse,  was  forced  into  alliance  with 
Rome. 

262.  The  Roman  army  took  Agrigentum. 

260.   Rome  scored  her  first  naval  victory  at  Mylae. 

256.  Regulus,  after  conquering  the  Carthaginian  fleet,  landed 
in  Africa  and  laid  siege  to  Carthage. 

255.  Regulus  was  defeated  and  taken  prisoner. 

250.  The  Romans,  by  the  victory  of  Panormus,  gained  the 
mastery  of  almost  the  whole  of  Sicily. 

249.  Two  Roman  fleets  were  defeated  and  destroyed. 

247.  Hamilcar  assumed  command  of  the  Carthaginians  in 
Sicily. 

244.  Hamilcar  entrenched  himself  on  Mount  Eryx. 

241.  Carthage,  defeated  in  the  iEgatian  Isles,  made  peace  and 
gave  up  Sicily. 

240.  The  mercenary  revolts  against  Carthage  began  the 
Truceless  War  (240-238). 

238.  Rome  took  Sardinia  from  Carthage. 

237.  Hamilcar  began  to  subjugate  Spain  to  Carthage. 

228.  Hasdrubal  founded  Carthagena.  The  Romans  settled 
in  Illyria. 

225.  The  Gauls  invaded  Etruria  and  were  defeated  at  Cape 
Telamon. 

222.  Rome  subjugated  the  Cisalpine  Gauls. 

219.  Hannibal  took  Saguntum. 

218.  Rome  began  the  second  Punic  war  (218-201).  Hannibal 
crossed  the  Pyrenees,  the  Rhone,  the  Alps,  defeated  the  Romans 
at  the  Ticinus  (Tesino)  and  at  Trebia. 

217.  Hannibal  destroyed  a  Roman  army  near  Lake  Trasimenus. 
216.  Hannibal    destroyed  a   Roman   army  at    Cannes    and 
wintered  at  Capua. 

215.  Hannibal  made  alliance  with  Philip,  king  of  Macedonia. 
War  against  Philip  (215-205). 
212.  Marcellus  took  Syracuse. 


500  THE  ROMAN  PEOPLE. 

211.  The  Romans,  in  spite  of  Hannibal,  succeeded  in  taking 
Capua. 

210,  The  Romans  defeated  Carthage  in  Spain  and  took  Car- 
Lhagena. 

207.  Asdrubal,  coming  from   Spain   into   Italy,  was  defeated 
and  killed  at  the  Metaurus.     Hannibal  withdrew  into  Bruttium. 

206.  Rome  completed    the  expulsion   of  the  Carthaginians 
from  Spain. 

204.  Scipio  landed  in  Africa. 

203i  Carthage,  in  her  distress,  recalled  Hannibal. 

202.  Scipio  defeated  Hannibal  at  Zama. 

201.  Carthage  sued  for  peace.     End  of  the  second  Punic  war. 

200.  Rome  declared  war  against  Philip  of  Macedonia  (200- 
196). 

197.  Philip  was  defeated  at  Cynoscephalae. 

192.  Antiochus,  king  of  Syria,  made  war  on  Rome  (192-189^. 

191.  Antiochus,  defeated   at  Thermopylae,   was  driven   from 
Greece. 

189.  Antiochus,  defeated  at  Magnesia  in  Asia,  made  peace. 

171.  Rome  declared  war  against  Perseus  (171-167). 

168.  Perseus  was  defeated  at  Pydna  and  taken  prisoner. 

150.  Viriathus  began  war  in  Lusitania  (150-140). 

149.  Rome  began  the  third  Punic  war  (149-146). 

146.  Scipio  took  Carthage  and  destroyed  it.     Mummius  cap- 
tured and  destroyed  Corinth. 

143.  The  Numantian  war  began  in  Spain  (143-133). 

133.  Scipio   captured    and    destroyed    Numantia.      Tiberius 
Gracchus,  tribune,  carried  an  agrarian  law.    He  was  assassinated. 

125.  Rome,  on  the  appeal  of  Massilia,  began  war  in  Trans- 
alpine Gaul. 

123.  Gains  Gracchus,  tribune,  carried  a  number  of  agrarian 
laws. 

121.  Gains  Gracchus  was  assassinated. 

122-118.  Rome  defeated  the  Allobroges  and  Arverni,  subju- 
gated the  Provzncia,  and  founded  Aix  and  Narbonne. 

113.  The  Cimbri  and  Teutons  appear  in  the  neighborhood  of 
the  Alps. 

112.  Rome  began  the  Numidian  war  against  Jugurtha  (112- 
106). 


APPEUDIX  E. 


501 


107.  Marius  was  elected  consul  and  defeated  Jugurtha. 

()6.  Jugurtha  was  delivered  to  Marius. 

105.  The  Cimbri  and  Teutons,  in  a  fourth  victory  over  the 
0  nans,  destroyed  two  Roman  armies  near  Orange. 
102.  Marius  destroyed  the  Teutons  near  Aix. 
101.  Marius  destroyed  the  Cimbri  near  Vercellae. 
100.  Saturninus  and  Glaucia  carried  laws  against  the  will  of 
e  senate  and  took  the  Capitol.     They  were  both  killed. 
91.  The  discontented  allies  began  the  Social  War  (91-98). 
90.  Rome  was  at  first  defeated,  and  granted  the  right  of  citi- 
nship  to  all  allies  that  had  remained  faithful. 
89.  Rome  after  her  victory  extended  the  right  to  the  whole 

1  taly. 

88.  The  Greeks  in  Asia,  oppressed  by  the  Romans,  rose  and 
lassacred  them.  Mithri dates  conquered  Asia  and  attacked 
n^ece. 

87,  First  civil  war  in  Rome  between  Marius  and  Sulla.  First 
ar  against  Mithridates  (88-84). 

86.  Sulla  took  Athens  and  drove  the  army  of  Mithridates 

)iTi  Greece. 

83.  Sulla  returned  to  Italy  with  his  army.  Second  civil  war 
^3-82). 

82.  Sulla  was  victorious  and  was  made  dictator ;  proscrip- 
Cornelian  laws. 

Abdication  and  death  of  Sulla. 

Sertorius  began  war  in  Spain  against  the  senate  (78-72). 
Last  war  against  Mithridates  (74-63).     Lucullus  victorious 

Cyzicus. 

73.  War  against  Spartacus  (73-71). 

70.  War  against  Tigranes,  king  of  Armenia  (70-66).    Pompey 

li  Crassus  joined  against  the  senatorial  party  and  repealed 

t'  laws  carried  by  Sulla. 

69.  Lucullus  defeated  Tigranes  and  took  Tigranocerta. 

67,  Pompey,  given  command  J&f  the  war  against  the  pirates, 


ms ; 
79. 

74. 


t 


stored  the  safety  of  the  seasr. 

60.  Pompey,  given  command  of  the  War  against  Mithridates  ^ 

icfed  the  latter  to  flee.  '     "^^' 


63.  Mithridates  killed  himself. 
ia.    Cicero  put  down  Catiline's 


Pompey 
:onspiracy. 


settled   affairs 


502 


THE  RdMAN  PEOPLE. 


60.  Pompey,  Crassus,  and  Caesar  formed  a  triumvirate. 

58.  Caesar  began  the  Gallic  wars  (58-50),  driving  the  Heh 
tians  and  Ariovistus  from  Gaul. 

57.  Caesar  subjugated  the  Belgic  Gauls. 

56.  Caesar  subjugated  the  Gauls  of  the  south  and  west. 

55.  Caesar  crossed  the  Rhine  and  also  landed  in  Britain 

54.  Revolt  of  the  Gauls  of  the  north. 

53.  Caesar  subjugated  the  Gauls.  Crassus  was  defeated  a 
killed  by  the  Parthians. 

52.  The  Gauls  revolted,  led  by  Vercingetorix.  Caesar,  dri\ 
from  Gergovia,  besieged  and  took  Vercingetorix  in  Alei 
Pompey,  elected  sole  consul,  became  Caesar's  enemy. 

49.  Civil  war  between  Caesar  and  Pompey.     Caesar,  after 
victory  in  Spain,  was  made  dictator. 

48.  Pompey  was  defeated  and  killed  at  Pharsalus. 

46.  Caesar,  after  conquering  the  Pompeians  in  Africa 
Thapsus,  was  made  dictator  for  ten  years. 

45.  Caesar,  after  conquering  the  Pompeians  in  Spain 
Munda,  was  made  dictator  for  life  and  emperor. 

44.  Caesar  was  killed.  The  Mutina  (Modena)  war  betw 
Antony  and  the  conspirators. 

43.  Antony,  Octavius,  and  Lepidus  caused  themselves  tc 
appointed  triumvirs;  proscriptions;  death  of  Cicero. 

42.  Brutus  and  Cassius,  defeated  at  Philippi,  killed  the 
selves.     The  triumvirs  divided  the  empire  among  themselve 

39.  The  triumvirs  made  peace  with  Sextus  Pompey. 

36.  Octavius  defeated  S.  Pompey  and  Lepidus  and  remai 
sole  master  in  the  west. 

31.  Octavius  defeated  Antony  at  Actium  and  reigned  alor 

27.  Octavius,  becoming   Augustus,   began   to   organize 
empire. 

25.  War  against  the  mountaineers  in  Spain  (25-19). 

12.  Drusus  made  war  on  the  Germans  (12-9).     Tiberius  m 
\      war  on  the  Pannonians  (12-9). 

Birth  of  Christ.    Beginning  of  the  Christian  Era. 
Ips. 
D        4-6  A.D.  Expeditions    into  Germany   under    Tiberius,    ^ 

'an  war  against  Marbod,  king  of  the  Marcomanni. 

9.  General  revolt  of  Pannonians  put  down  by  Tiberius. 

"The  Germans  destroyed  the  army  of  Varus. 


APPENDIX  B.  "5^3 

11-16.  Expeditions  into  Germany  under  Germanicus. 

14.  Death  of  Augustus.  Accession  of  Tiberius.  Uprising 
of  the  legions  of  Pannonia  and  Germany. 

23.  Sejanus  gathered  the  praetorians  together  in  a  camp  near 
Rome. 

31.  Sejanus  was  put  to  death. 

37.  Caligula  emperor. 

41.  Caligula  was  killed,  and  the  praetorians  proclaimed  Clau- 
dius as  his  successor. 

43.  The  Romans  began  tiie  conquest  of  Britain. 

54.  Nero  was  proclaimed  emperor. 

55.  Nero  caused  Britannicus  to  be  put  to  death. 

60-61.  The   Britains   revolted    and   massacred  the  Romans; 
they  were  conquered  and  subjugated. 
62.  Death  of  Burrus. 

64.  Burning  of  Rome.     Persecution  of  Christians  by  Nero. 

65.  The  Piso  conspiracy.     Death  of  Seneca. 

66.  Revolt  of  the  Jews.     War  in  Judaea  (66-70). 

68.  The  armies  rebelled  against  Nero.  Nero  killed  himself. 
Galba  recognized  emperor.  The  praetorians  killed  Galba  and 
proclaimed  Otho  emperor.  The  army  in  Germany  proclaimed 
Vitellius. 

69.  War  between  the  praetorians  and  the  army  in  Germany. 
Otho  was  defeated  and  killed  himself.  War  between  the  army 
in  Germany  and  the  armies  in  the  east.  Vitellius  was  de- 
feated and  killed.  Vespasian  emperor.  Civilis  incited  an  in- 
surrection among  the  Batavians.     Revolt  in  Gaul. 

70.  Subjugation  of  Batavians.  Jerusalem  taken  and  de- 
stroyed. 

79.  Eruption  of  Vesuvius. 

78-85.  Wars  of  Agricola  in  Britain. 

96.  Domitian  was  killed.  The  senate  proclaimed  Nerva  his 
successor. 

101-102.  Trajan  conquered  the  Dacians. 

105-106.  Trajan  subjugated  Dacia  and  made  of  it  a  Roman 
province. 

114_117.  Victories  of  Trajan  over  the  Parthians. 

120-134.  Journeys  of  Emperor  Hadiian  about  the  Empire. 

132-135.  Jewish  insurrection. 


504  THE  ROMAN  PEOPLE. 

161.  Death  of  Antoninus.  Joint  succession  of  Marcus  Au- 
relius  and  Lucius  Verus. 

162-166  (?).   War  against  the  Parthians. 

167-175.  Barbarians  from  the  Danube  threatened  to  invade 
Italy  and  were  repulsed. 

177.  Martyrdom  of  Christians  in  Vienne  and  Lyon. 

178-180.  Marcus  Aurelius  conquered  the  Danube  barbarians. 

193.  The  praetorians  assassinated  Pertinax  and  sold  the 
empire  to  the  highest  bidder.  The  armies  of  Syria,  Britain,  and 
the  Danube  each  proclaimed  an  emperor. 

194.  Septimius  Severus  was  recognized  emperor  in  Rome. 
Pescennius  Niger  was  overcome  and  killed  in  the  east. 

197.  Albinus  was  overcome  and  killed  in  Gaul. 
208-211.  Expeditions  of  Septimius  Severus  into  Britain. 

212.  Caracalla  killed  his  brother  Geta.  An  edict  declared 
citizens  all  inhabitants  of  the  empire. 

213.  First  attack  of  Alemanni  on  the  empire. 

217.  Caracalla  was  killed  by  Macrinus. 

218,  The  army  in  Syria  revolted  against  Macrinus  and  pro- 
claimed Heliogabalus  emperor. 

222.  Heliogabalus  was  assassinated  by  the  soldiers. 
226.  In   the  kingdom  of  the  Parthians  the  dynasty  of  the 
Arsacidae  was  replaced  by  that  of  the  Sassanidae. 
233.  The  Parthians  invaded  the  Roman  Empire. 

235.  Alexander  Severus  was  assassinated  by  army  of  Ger- 
many and  succeeded  by  Maximian  the  Thracian. 

236.  Wars  between  Maximian  and  the  emperors  recognized 
by  the  senate ;  Maximian  was  killed  by  his  soldiers ;  the  prae- 
torians killed  the  senatorial  emperors. 

241.  Victory  over  the  Parthians. 

244.  Gordian  was  killed  by  Philip  the  Arabian. 

249.  Philip  was  overcome  and  killed.    Decius  succeeded  him, 

250.  Decius  persecuted  the  Christians.     Invasions  of  Goths. 

251.  Decius  was  killed  fighting  the  Goths. 

253.  Wars  between  the  armies.  The  Parthians  invaded 
Syria,  the  Germans  Gaul  and  Italy,  the  Franks  Gaul  and  Spain, 
the  Goths  Asia  and  Greece. 

260.  Valerian  was  overcome  and  captured  by  the  Parthians. 

260-268.  Revolt  of  the  generals  (Thirty  Tyrants). 


APPENDIX  E,  505 

268.  Claudius  defeated  and  subjugated  the  Goths. 

270.  Aurelian  repulsed  the  Alemanni.  A  battle  was  fought 
about  Rome  on  the  wall  of  Aurelian. 

272.  Aurelian  defeated  Zenobia  and  regained  control  of  the 
east. 

274.  Aurelian  defeated  Tetricus  and  regained  control  of 
Gaul. 

275.  Aurelian  was  assassinated ;  the  soldiers  charged  the 
senate  with  the  election  of  an  emperor. 

277.  Emperor  Probus  drove  the  Germans  from  Gaul  and 
fortified  the  frontier. 

282.  Probus  was  assassinated  by  the  soldiers. 

284.  Carus,  after  defeating  the  Parthians,  was  killed.  Dio- 
cletian began  to  reorganize  the  empire. 

285.  Maximian  defeated  the  Bagaudae  in  Gaul. 

286.  Diocletian  gave  the  title  of  Au^us/us  to  Maximian. 
292.  Diocletian  divided  the  empire  between  the  two  Augusti 

and  the  two  Caesars. 

303-311.  Persecution  of  the  Christians. 

306.  Constantine  was  proclaimed  emperor  by  the  army  in 
Britain,  Maxentius  by  the  praetorians  in  Rome. 

307.  First  civil  war.  Severus  was  taken  and  killed.  Six 
Augusti. 

312.  Second  civil  war.  Maxentius  was  defeated  by  Constan- 
tine at  the  Milvian  Bridge  and  was  drowned. 

313.  Third  civil  war.  Maxentius  was  defeated  by  Licinius 
and  killed  himself.     Edict  of  Milan. 

314.  Fourth  civil  war.  Licinius,  defeated  by  Constantine, 
yielded  Illyria  to  him. 

323.  Fifth  civil  war.  Constantine,  after  defeating  Licinius, 
reigned  alone. 

325.  First  oecumenical  council  at  Nicaea. 

326.  Constantine  founded  Constantinople. 

337.  Constantine's  three  sons  succeeded  him  as  joint  em- 
perors ;  the  soldiers  massacred  the  rest  of  his  family. 

340.  Constantine  IL,  after  defeating  his  brother  Constans, 
was  killed. 

350i  Constans  was  killed  and  succeeded  by  Magnentius. 


5o6  THE  ROMAN  PEOPLE. 

351.  Constantius  defeated  Magnentius  and  was  left  sole 
emperor. 

355.  Julian  was  sent  into  Gaul  against  the  Alemanni. 
357.  Julian  defeated  the  Alemanni  near  Argentoratum. 

360.  Julian  was  proclaimed  emperor  at  Paris. 

361.  Julian,  as  sole  emperor,  persecuted  the  Christian  Church. 

363.  Julian  defeated  the  Parthians,  but  was  killed  in  battle. 

364.  Valentinian  divided  the  empire  with  his  brother  Valens 
and  drove  out  the  Germans. 

376.  The  Goths,  who  had  taken  refuge  within  the  empire, 
began  war  against  Valens. 

378.  Valens  was  defeated  and  killed  at  Adrianople ;  the 
Goths  invaded  the  empire. 

379-382.  Theodosius  subdued  the  Gauls  and  established 
them  on  the  Danube. 

383.  Gratian  was  assassinated  and  Maximian  proclaimed 
emperor. 

388.  Theodosius  defeated  and  killed  Maximian. 

392.  Arbogastes  killed  Valentinian  II.  and  proclaimed  Eu- 
genius  emperor.  Theodosius  forbade  the  worship  of  idols 
under  penalty  of  death. 

394.  Eugenius  was  defeated  and  killed. 

395.  Theodosius  divided  the  empire  between  his  two  sons 
and  died.     Arcadius  took  the  east ;  Honorius  the  west. 

402.  Alaric  invaded  Italy ;  battle  of  Pollentia. 

406.  Vandals,  Suevi,  and  Burgundians  invaded  Gaul. 

408.  Theodosius  II.,  emperor  in  the  east.  Death  of  Stilicho. 
Alaric  invaded  Italy. 

410.  Alaric  captured  Rome.  Vandals  and  Suevi  settled  in 
Spain. 

415.  Visigoths  settled  in  Gaul  and  Spain. 

429.   The  Vandals  crossed  to  Africa. 

439.  Carthage  was  captured  by  the  Vandals. 

449.  Anglo-Saxons  settled  in  Britain. 

451.  The  Huns  were  defeated  at  Chalons. 

452.  Attila  invaded  Italy. 

453.  Attila  died. 

455.  The  Vandals  under  Gaiseric  sack  Rome. 

456.  Patrician  Ricimer  made  Marjorian  emperor. 


APPENDIX  E.  507 

461.  Patrician  Ricimer  made  Severus  emperor  in  the  west. 
467.  "  "  "      Anthemius  emperor. 

472.  "  "  "      Olybrius  emperor. 

475.  Orestes  made  his  son  Romulus  Augustulus  emperor  in 
the  west. 

476.  Romulus  was  deposed  by  Odoacer,  who  became  pa- 
trician. 

486.  Clovis  defeated  the  Romans  at  Soissons. 
489-493.  Theodoric  conquered  Odoacer. 
496.  Clovis  accepted  Christianity. 

526.  Theodoric  died. 

527.  Justinian  became  emperor  at  Constantinople. 
533-4.  Belisarius  overthrew  the  Vandals. 

534.  The  Franks  conquered  Burgundy. 

535-540.  Belisarius  conquered  Italy. 

565.  Justinian  died. 

568.  The  Lombards  invaded  Italy. 

590.  Gregory  the  Great  became  pope. 

597.  St.  Augustine  reached  England. 

610.  Heraclius  became  emperor. 

622.  Mohammed  fled  to  Medina;  tlie  Hegira. 

711.  The  Moslems  invaded  Spain. 

732.  Charles  Martel  defeated  the  Moslems  at  Tours. 

751.  Pippin  supplanted  the  last  Merovingian,  and  became 
king  of  the  Franks. 

756.  Pippin  made  his  "  Donation  "  to  the  pope.  Caliphate 
of  Cordova  founded. 

768.  Charles  the  Great  became  king  of  the  Franks  with  his 
brother  Carloman. 

771.  Charles  became  sole  king. 

774.  Donation  of  Charles  the  Great  to  the  pope. 

780.  Constantine  VI.  became  emperor  at  Constantinople. 

800.  Charles  the  Great  was  crowned  emperor  at  Rome. 

814.  Death  of  Charles  the  Great. 


APPENDIX  F. 

A   LIST   OF   SOURCES   AVAILABLE   IN   ENCxLISH 
AND     OF     USEFUL     BOOKS     FOR    PARALLEL 
READING. 

SOURCES. 

Ammianus  Marcellinus Roman  History,  tr.  by  Yonge  (Bohn). 

Appian Roman  History,  tr.  by  White    (Mac- 

millan). 

Augustus Monumentum  Ancyranum,  tr.  by  Fair- 
ley  (Vol.  V,  No.  I,  Translations 
and  Reprints,  Univ.  of  Penn.). 

Bede Ecclesiastical    History,    ed.    by  Giles 

(Bohn). 

Benedict Rule^  of  St.  Benedict,  in  Henderson's 

Select.  Historical  Documents. 

Boethius Consolation  of  Philosophy,  tr.  by  Fox 

(Bohn). 

Caesar Commentaries  (Bohn). 

Cassiodorus Letters,  tr.  by  Hodgkin. 

Cicero Orations,  tr.  by  Yonge  (Bohn). 

''      Letters,  tr.  by  Shuckburgh  (Bohn). 

*'     The    Republic,    tr.    by    Hardingham 

(Quaritch). 

Einhard Life  of  the  Emperor  Karl  the  Great, 

tr.  by  Glaister. 

Eusebius Ecclesiastical    History    and    Life    of 

Constantine,  tr.  by  McGififert  (Chris- 
tian Lit.  Co.). 

Eutropius Abridgement   of  Roman    History,   tr. 

by  Watson  (Bohn). 

508 


APPENDIX  F.  509 

Florus Epitome   of  Roman   History,    tr.    by 

,  Watson  (Bohn). 

Josephus Jewish  Wars,  tr,  by  Whiston. 

Justin History  of  the  World,  tr.  by  Watson 

(Bohn). 

Justinian.    Institutes,  tr.  by  Moyle. 

Lactantius On  the  Deaths  of  the  Persecutors,  tr.  by 

Fletcher  (Christian  Lit.  Co.). 

Livy History  of  Rome,  tr.  by  Spillan  (Bohn). 

Mohammed The   Koran,    tr.    by    Palmer    (Sacred 

Books  of  the  East). 
Nepos Lives  of  Eminent  Commanders,  tr.  by 

Watson  (Bohn). 
Paterculus Compendium  of  the  History  of  Rome, 

tr.  by  Watson  (Bohn). 

Plutarch Lives,  tr.  by  Stewart  and  Long  (Bohn). 

Polybius Histories,    tr.  by   Shuckburgh    '  Mac- 

millan). 
Sallust The  Jugurthine  War,  and  Conspiracy 

of  Catiline,  tr.  by  Watson  (Bohn) 
Suetonius The  Lives  of  the  Twelve  Caesars,  h". 

by  Thomson  (Bohn). 
Tacitus The   Annals,    History  and   Germania 

(Bohn). 

GENERAL  HISTORIES   OF  ROME. 

Arnold,  T History  of  Rome,  3  vols. 

Duruy,  V History    of    Rome   and    the    Roman 

People,  8  vols. 
Gibbon,  E The  Decline  and  Fall  of  the  Roman 

Empire,  ed.  by  J.  B.  Bury,  6  vols. 

Ihne,  W History  of  Rome,  5  vols. 

Mommsen,  T History  of  Rome,  4  vols. 

HANDBOOKS   OF  ROMAN  HISTORY. 

Botsford,  G.  W A  History  of  Rome   Macmillan). 

How,  W.  W.  and  Leigh,  H.  D..  .A  History  of  Rome  to  the  Death   of 

Caesar  (Macmillan). 

Morey Outlines  of  Roman  History  (American 

Book  Company). 
Myers,  P.  V.  N Rome;  Its  Rise  and  Fall  (Ginn  &  Co.). 


5IO  THE  ROMAN  PEOPLE. 

Pelham,  H.  F Outlines   of   Roman    History    (G.   P. 

Putnam's  Sons). 
Shuckburgh,  E.  S A  History  of  Rome    Macmillan). 

WORKS   ON   SPECIAL  PERIODS  AND   TOPICS. 

Abbott,  F.  F Roman  Political  Institutions. 

Adams,  G.  B Civilization  during  the  Middle  Ages. 

Arnold,  W.  T Roman  System  of  Provincial  Admin- 
istration. 
Beesly,  A.  H The     Gracchi,     Marius     and     Sulla 

(Epochs). 

Boissier,  G Cicero  and  His  Friends,  tr.  by  Fisher. 

♦' Rome  and  Pompeii. 

Bradley .The  Goths  (Nations). 

Bryce,  J The  Holy  Roman  Empire. 

Bury,  J.  B .^ The    Student's    Roman    Empire,    to 

i8o  A.D. 

<*  The  Later  Roman  Empire. 

Capes,  W.  W The  Early  Empire  and  The  Age  of 

the  Antonines  (Epochs). 

Carlyle,  T Heroes  and  Hero  Worship. 

Church,  A.  J Carthage. 

' '  Early  Britain  (Nations). 

Church,  R.  W The  Beginning  of  the  Middle   Ages 

(Epochs). 

Coulange,  F.  de The  Ancient  City. 

Creasy,  E.  S Fifteen  Decisive  Battles. 

Crutwell,  C.  T History  of  Roman  Literature. 

Curteis,  A.  M   History  of  the  Roman  Empire  from 

Theodosius  to  Charlemagne. 

Davis,  H.  W.  C Charlemagne  (Heroes). 

Dennis,  G The  Cities  and  Cemeteries  of  Etruria. 

Dill,  S Roman  Society  in  the  Last  Century 

of  the  Western  Empire. 

Dodge,  T.  A. Hannibal  and  C3esar(Great  Captains). 

Emerton,  E .* Litroduction    to    the    Study    of   the 

Middle  Ages. 

Farrar,  F.  W Seekers  after  God. 

Fergusson,  J .    History  of  Architect!^ re. 

Finlay,  G History  of  Greece. 


APPENDIX  F.  511 

Fisher,  G.  P History  of  the  Christian  Church. 

Forsyth Life  of  Cicero. 

Freeman,  E.  A. Historical  Geography  of  Europe. 

"  History  of  Federal  Government. 

**  Historical  Essays,  3  series. 

"  Three    Chief    Periods    of    European 

History. 
"  History  and  Conquests  of  the  Sara- 

cens. 

Froude,  J.  A Caesar. 

Gardner,  Alice Julian  (Heroes  . 

Gilman,  A The  Saracens  (Nations). 

Green,  J.  R The  Making  of  England. 

"  .  . .  A  Short  History  of  the  English  People. 

Greenidge,  A.  H.  J Roman  Public  Life. 

Guerber,  H,  A Myths  of  Greece  and  Rome. 

Guhl  and  Koner The  Life  of  the  Greeks  and  Romans. 

Hadley,  J Introduction  to  Roman  Law. 

Hardy,  E.  G .  ■  .  .Christianity  and  the  Roman  Govern- 
ment. 

Harrison,  F -.    Byzantine     History    in     the     Early 

Mitldle  Ages. 

Hatch Organization  of  the  Early  Christian 

Churches. 

Hodgkin,  T Italy  and  her  Invaders. 

**  The  Dynasty  of  Theodosius. 

<*  Theodoric  the  Ostrogoth. 

" 4.  .    .  .  .Charles  the  Great. 

Holmes,  T.  R Caesar's  Conquest  of  Gaul. 

Ihne,  W Early  Rome. 

Inge,  W.  R Society  in  Rome  under  the  Caesars. 

Irving,  W Mohammed  and  his  Successors. 

Kitchin,  G.  W History  of  France. 

Lane-Poole,  Stanley Speeches    and     Table-talk     of    the 

Prophet  Mohammed. 

Lanciani,  R Pagan  and  Christian  Rome. 

<<  Ancient  Rome  in  the  Light  of  Recent 

Discoveries. 

Lecky History  of  European  Morals. 

Long,  G Decline  and  Fall  of  the  Roman  Re- 
public. 


512  THE  ROMAN  PEOPLE. 

Mackail,  J.  W Latin  Literature. 

Mahaffy,  J.  P The     Greek    World    under    Roman 

Sway. 

Mahan,  A.  T The    Influence    of    Sea  power    upon 

History. 

Mau,  A Pompeii,  its  Life  and  Art. 

Merivale,  C General  History  of  Rome. 

''  A  History  of  the  Romans  under  the 

Empire. 

**  Roman  Triumvirates  (Epochs). 

** Conversion  of  the  Roman  Empire. 

Middleton,  C Life  and  Letters  of  Cicero. 

Milman,  H.  H History  of  Christianity. 

"  History  of  Latin  Christianity. 

Mommsen,  T Provinces  of  the  Roman  Empire. 

Montalembert,  Count  de The  Monks  of  the  West. 

Morris,  W.  0 Hannibal  (Heroes). 

Morey,  W.  C Outlines  of  Roman  Law. 

Muir,  W The  Koran. 

**        . Life  of  Mohammed. 

**         Annals  of  the  Early  Caliphate. 

** Rise  and  Decline  of  Islam. 

Newman,  J.  H..  Arians  of  the  Fourth  Century. 

Oman,  C.  W.  C The  Byzantine  Empire  (Nations). 

<•  The  Dark  Ages. 

Ramsay  and  Lanciani Manual  of  Roman  Antiquities. 

Ramsay,  W.  M .  .  .The  Church    in    the   Roman   Empire 

before  170  a.d. 
Renan,  E The   Influence  of  Rome  upon  Chris- 
tianity. 

Sargeant,  T The  Franks  (Nations). 

SchafE,  P History  of  the  Christian  Church. 

Seeley,  J.  R Roman  Imperialism. 

Simcox,  G.  A History  of  Latin  Literature. 

Smith,  R.  B Carthage      and     the     Carthaginians 

(Epochs). 

'*  Rome  and  Carthage  (Epochs). 

Stanley,  A.  P Lectures  on  the  History  of  the  East- 
ern Church. 
**              Christian  Institutions, 


APPENDIX  F.  513 

Strachan-Davidson,  J.  L Cicero  and   the  Fall  of  the  Roman 

Republic  (Heroes). 

Taylor,  T.  M Constitutional  and  Political  History 

of  Rome. 

Teuffel,  W.  S History  of  Roman  Literature. 

Thatcher  and  Schwill Europe  in  the  Middle  Ages. 

Tozer,  H.  F . .  .Classical  Geography. 

Uhlhorn,  G Conflict  of  Christianity  with  Heathen- 
ism. 

Wishart,  A.  W A  Short  History  of  Moiiks  and  Monas- 
teries. 


INDEX 


Aachen,  485 

Achce'an  League,  131 

Acha'ia,  province,  135 

Ac'tium.  battle  of,  259 

Adriano'ple,  334:  battle  at,  397 

.■Ediles,  curule.  duties,  473;  elec- 
tion, 489;  plebeian,  election,  489 

.■E'dui,  234 

/Ega'tian  Islands,  naval  battle 
near,  96  » 

--Emilia'nus,  see  Scipio 

-rEmilius,  see  Faulus 

y^ne'as,  legend  of,   17 

.^ne'id,  see  Vergil  iv  I; 

.Equians,  5;  war  with,  58 

Ae'tius,  426 

y^to'lians,  123,    126 

Africa,  province  of,  135 

Ager  public'us,  see  Public  lands 
and  Agrarian  laivs 

Agrarian  laws,  of  Tiberius  Grac- 
chus, 179;  of  Gaius  Gracchus, 
184 

Agri'cola,  general   in   Britain,  309 

Agrigentum,  89 

Agrippa,  Mcnenius,  47 

Agrippa,  friend  of  Augustus,  264 

Agrippi'na,  mother  of  Nero,  293, 

303 

Aix-la-Chapelle,  see  Aachen 

Al'aric,  first  invasion.  423;  col- 
lects ransom  from  Rome,  sacks 
Rome,  death,  424 

Alba  Longa,  17,  19  ■ 

xVlban  Mount,  12 

Albinus,  376 

Alemanni,  388 

Alexandria,  library  at,  472 

Allia,  battle  of  the,  61 


Allies,  76 

Allo'broges,  141,  227 

Alphabet,  Greek,  in  Italy,  13;  Ro. 
man,  13,  n.  2 

Am'brose,  bishop  of  Milan,  418 

Ambustus  Fabius,  M.  Consul,  52 

Amphitheatre,  shows  in,  353,  355; 
Flavian,  321 

x\mu'lius,  17 

Ancus  Martius,  king  of  Rome,  20 

Andalusia,  named  from  Vandals, 
426 

Andriscus,  13^ 

Androni'cus,  Livius,  poet,  151 

Angles,  or  Anglo-Saxons,  invasion 
of  Britain,  426;  conversion  of, 
464 

Annales  Maximi,  35 

Antioch,  seat  of  patriarchiate,  402, 
n.  I 

Anti'ochus  the  Great,  war  with 
Rome,  123;  defeated  at  Magne- 
sia,  125 

Antiochus  IV.,  130 

Antium,  subdued,  65 

Antonines,  the,  326 ;  government 
of,  340 

Antoni'nus  Pius,  emperor,  336 

Antony,  Mark,  offers  crown  to 
Caesar,  250;  funeral  oration  over 
Caesar,  254;  in  Second  Trium- 
virate, 255;  kills  Cicero,  256; 
governs  the  east,  258 :  joins 
Cleopatra,  258;  invades  Parthia, 
259  ;  at  Actium,  260;  death  of, 
261 

Ap'ennines,  the,  i 

Apollo,  43 

Apotheosis  of  emperor,  268 

515 


5i6 


INDEX. 


Appeal,  citizens'  right  of,  48 
Appian,  358 

Appius   Claudius,  consul,   46;  de- 
cemvir, 51 ;  character  of,  51,  n.  i 
Aquae  Sextiae,   colony,  141;  battle 

at,  194 
Aqueducts,  347 
Arabia,  467 
Arbogast,  418 
Arcadius,  emperor,  421 
Arch,  in  Roman  building,  282  ;  of 

Titus,  345 ;  of  Constantine,  398 
Architecture,  Roman,  282 
Archime'des  defends  Syracuse,  112; 

death  of,  112 
Arianism,  condemned  at  Nic3ea,400 
Ariovis'tus,  234 
Arius,  heretic,  400 
Armenia,  province,  acquired,  330; 

abandoned,  331 
Arminius,  defeats  Varus,  275 
Army,   primitive.   74  ;  under  Ser- 

vius,    75  ;  Polybius,    description 

of,    75;  Imperial,   270;  in  later 

empire,  408  ;  weakness  of,  436 
Arre'tium,  68 

Art,  dependent  character   of,    152 
Arval  Brothers,  40 
Arver'ni,  141,  234 
As'culum,  197,  198 
Asia,  province  of,  142  ;    revolt  of, 

201 
Assemblies,  see  Comitia  centuriaia, 

curiata,  tributa,  consilium  plebis 
Assyria,  province,  won,  330;   lost, 

331 
Ataulf,  426 
Athana'sius,  defender  of  orthodoxy, 

401 
Athens,  taken  by  Sulla,  205 
At'talus,  king  of  Pergamum,  leaves 

kingdom  to  Romans,  142 
At'tila,  king  of  the  Huns,  defeated 

at  Chalons,  427;  invades  Italy, 

death  of,  428 
Au'fidus  River,  108 
Augurs,  42 
Augustan  Age,  281 
Augustine,  bishop  of  Hippo,  438 
Augustine,  mission  of  to  the  British, 

465 


Augustus,  see  Octavius;  as  title, 

266 
Aurelian,  emperor,  390 
Aure'lius,  Marcus,  emperor,  reign, 

337;  writings,  358,  360 
Auso'nians,  7 
Aus'pices,  31,  42 
AuxiHa,  77 
Av'entine  Hill,  17 

Baal  Moloch,  Carthaginian  god,  87 

Bae'tica,  province  in  Spain,  136 

Bagdad,  473 

Barbarians,  German  or  Teutonic, 
early  movements  of,  360;  invade 
empire,  387;  influence  of,  440; 
conversion  of,  463 

Barca,  see  Hamilcar 

Batavians,  276 

Baths,  348 

Belisa'rius,  general,  conquers  Van- 
dals, 452;  conquers  Italy,  452; 
recall  of,  453 

Benedict,  Benedictine  Monks,  466 

Bithynia,  126,  224 

Bitu'itus,  Gallic  chief,  141 

Boadice'a,  308 

Boii,  Gallic  tribe,  69,  96,  117 

Bologna(bolon'ya),  9;  colony,  118 

Bosphorus,  403 

Bovia'num,  67 

Brennus,  Gallic  leader,  63 

Britain,  Caesar  invades,  239;  con- 
quest of,  under  Claudius,  307, 
Agricola  in,309 ;  wall  of  Hadrian, 
332;  legions  leave,  426;  ravaged 
by  barbarians,  427;  Angles  and 
Saxons  in,  427;  conversion  of, 465 

Bruttians,  early,  6 

Brutus,  Lucius  Junius,*  first  consul 
27 

Brutus,  Marcus,  conspires  againsi 
Caesar,  252,  flees,  254;  death  o" 
257 

Burgundians,  settle  in  Gaul,  426^ 
conquered  by  Franks,  443 

Burrhus,  303. 

Byzantium,  403 


1, 

f 


Cae're,  8 

Caesar  Augustus,  see  Octavius    % 


INDEX. 


517 


Csesar,  Gaius,  see  Caligula 

Caesar,  Gaius  Julius,  early  life, 
230;  in  First  Triumvirate,  23 1; 
consul;  232;  goes  to  Gaul,  232; 
Gallic  wars  of,  234;  in  Britain. 
239;  opposed  to  Pompey,  244; 
crosses  Rubicon,  245;  war  with 
Pompey,  245;  in  the  east,  247. 
rule  of,  249;  killed,  252 

Cala'bria,  2 

Caledo'nia,  309 

Calendar,  Julian,  251 

Calig'ula,  emperor,  295 

Caliphates,  473 

Camenae,  nymphs,  19 

Camil'lus,  legend  of,  59 

Camp,  Roman,  79 

Campa'nia,  2 

Campanians,  6 

Campus  Martins,  24 

Camulodunum,  307 

Cannae,  battle  of,  107 

Canule'ius,  tribune,  law  of,  52 

Capitol,  siege  of  the,  61 

Capitoline  Hill,  24 

Ca'prese,  Tiberius  at,  294 

Capua,  9;  Hannibal  at,  iii;  fall 
of,  III 

Caracal'la,  emperor,  377  ;  extends 
citizenship,   384  ;    baths  of,   348 

Carac'tacus,  British  chief,  307 

Carbo,  Gnseus  Papirius,  consul, 
208 

Career  of  Honors,  172 

Carthage,  empire  of,  86;  religion 
and  government,  86,  87  ;  army 
of,  87;  in  Punic  Wars,  se&  Funic 
Wars;  destruction  of,  135 ;  col- 
ony at,  186  ;  taken  by  Saracens, 
472 

Carthage,    New,    or     Carthagena, 

136 
Carus,  emperor,  390 
Cassius,  Gaius,  conspirator  against 

Caesar,  252  ;  death,  256 
Cassivellaunus,  240 
Castor    and   Pollux,  43  ;    at   Lake 

Regillus,  57 
Catacombs,  370 
Cat'iline,  plot  of,  225 
Cato,  Marcus  Porcius,  the  censor, 


131 ;  as  historian,  34,  156;  urges 
destruction  of  Carthage,  131 ; 
his  austerity,  158 

Catullus,  poet,  281 

Catulus,  Q.  Lutatius,  consul,  194 

Caudine  Forks,  Romans  humbled 
at,  66 

Celtiberians,  137 

Celts,  Christianity  among,  465 

Censors,  office  created,  52  ;  duties, 
167  ;  suppressed  by  Sulla, 
211 

Census,  when  taken,  166  ;  descrip- 
tion of,  167 

Centuries  of  Servius,  32  ;  later, 
488 

Ceres,  36 

Chaerone'a,  battle,  206 

Chaldaean  soothsayers,  150,  324 

Chalons  battle,  427 

Chariot  races,  353 

Charlemagne,  see  Charles  the 
Great 

Charles  the  Great,  479  ;  restores 
empire  in  west,  481  ;  govern- 
ment of,  483 

Charles  Martel,  473,  478 

Charon,  Etruscan  god,  9 

Chlodovic,  see  Clovis 

Chos'roes,  king  of  Persia,  456 

Christ,  see  Jesus  Christ 

Christianity,  origin  of,  362;  prim- 
itive organization,  364;  tolera- 
tion of,  395,  398;  later  organi- 
zation of,  401;  as  a  factor  in 
history,  458 

Christians,  persecution  of,  under 
Nero,  367;  under  Trajan,  367; 
under  Marcus  Aurelius,  377; 
under  Diocletian,  394;  under 
Galerius,     395;     under    Julian, 

413 

Chrys'ostom,  church  father,  4.38 
Cicero,  Marcus  Tullius,  prosecutes 

Verres,  218;  suppresses  Catiline, 

225;    death  of,  256;    works   of, 

290 
Cili'cia,     rendezvous     of    pirates, 

222 
Cimbri,  defeat  of,  194 
Ciminian  Forest,  7 


5i8 


INDEX. 


Cincinna'tus,      Lucius     Quintius, 

legend  of,  58 
Ci'neas,  71 
Cinna,  206 
Circus,  shows  of,   353;    Maximus, 

353 

Cisalpine  Gaul,  see  Gallia  Cisal- 
pina 

Citizenship,  of  plebeians,  54;  ex- 
tended to  the  Italians,  198;  to 
provincials,  384 

Civi'lis,  Claudius,  315 

Civil  as,  6,  13 

Clan,  see  Gens 

Classes,  five  Servian,  32 

Claudius,  emperor,  298;  reign, 
299  ;  in  Britain,  307;  death, 
302 

Claudius,  Appius,  see  Appius 

Claudius,  Publius,  consul,  95 

Cleopatra,  and  Caesar,  248;  meets 
Antony,  258;  at  Actium,  260; 
death,  261 

Clients,  22 

Cloa'ca  Maxima,  25 

Clovis,  reign,  443 

Clupea,  93 

Clusium,  61 

Code,  of  Justinian,  454 

Coelian  Hill,  19,  20 

CoUati'nus   Tarquinius,  consul,  27 

Colleges,  sacred,  39 

Colline  Gate,  battle  at,  209 

Coloni,  361 

Colonies,  Greek,  of  eighth  century 
B.  C,  61;  Latin,  84:  Roman,  84 

Colosseum,  321,  345 

Comitia,  centuriata,  31,  487;  under 
Augustus,  267 

Comitia  curiata,  early,  23,  31,  487 

Comitia  tributa,  53,  171,  488 

Commerce,  of  republic,  162;  of 
empire,  286 

Com'modus,  emperor,  373 

Consilimu  plebis,  488 

Constans,  emperor,  411 

Constantine  the  Great,  395 ;  defeats 
Maxentius,  397 ;  accepts  cross  as 
standard,  399;  grants  toleration 
to  Christians,  399;  calls  council 
of  Nicsea,   400;     founds     Con- 


stantinople, 403 ;  government  of, 

406-409;  Donation  of,  479 
Constantine  II.,  41 1 
Constantine  VI.,  482 
Constantinoplcfouiided,  403;  court 

of,  407 
Constantius,  Ch'orus,  391,  395 
Constantius  II..  411 
Consuls,     origii\     of      office,     28; 

powers,  29;  plebeian,  52;  in  later 

empire,  404,  n,  i 
Cor'dova,  caliphate  of,  473 
Corfin'ium,  197 
Corinth,  135 

Coriola'nus,  legend  of,  48 
Cori'oli,  48 

Cornelia,  mother  of  Gracchi,  177 
Cornelian  Laws,  210 
Cornelii,  211 

Corn  Laws,  Gracchan,  179,  184 
Corpus  Juris  Civilis,  see  Code  of 

Justinian 
Corsica,    taken    by    Romans,    92; 

annexed,  96 
Council,  see  Consiliuvi  plebis. 
Crassus,   Marcus  Licinius,  defeats 

gladiators,     217  ;    consul,     239; 

riches  of,  as  triumvir,  232,  238; 

invades  Parthia,  242;  death,  242 
Credibility  of  early  Roman  history, 

33 
Cremera,  River,  59 
Cremo'na,  colony,  118 
Crime'a,  the,  201 
Croton,  Greek  colony,  6 
Ctesiphon,  329 
Cumae,  6 

Curia,  23 ;  city  council,  342 
Curia  Hostilia,  169 
Curia'tii,  legend  of,  19 
Curio,  23 

Curius  Dentatus,  simplicity  of,  154 
Curule  offices,  160 
Cyb'ele,  goddess,  150 
Cynosceph'alae,  battle  of,  121 

Dacia,  under  Trajan,  327 
Debtor,  treatment  of,  45,  51,  54 
Decebalus,  327 

Decemvirs,   work  of,   49;    misrule 
and  overthrow,  49 


INDEX. 


519 


Decius,  emperor,  386 

Decius  Mus,  Pub'ius,  consul,  devo- 
tion of.  64 

Delators,  293 

Dentatus.  Manius  Curius,  154 

Uia'na,  36 

Dictator,  30 

Dictatorship,  30;  disused,  226,  n. 
I;  of  Sulla,  212;  of  Csesar,  249 

Dioceses,  religious,  401 ;   civil,  407 

Diocle'tian,  emptror,  390;  abdica- 
tion of,  392 

Diony'sius  of  Halicarnassus,  his- 
torian, 34 

Divorce,  frequency  of,  156 

Dominus,  title  of  later  emperors, 
392 

Domitian,  emperor,  322 

Donation  of  Constantine,  479 

Drama,  15 1,  280,  353 

Dre'pana,  naval  battle  near,  95 

Dress,  Roman,  145 

Druids,  of  Gaul,  233;  of  Britain, 
308 

Drusus,  step-son  of  Augustus,  264, 
265 ;  death  of,  275 

Drusus,  Marcus  Livius,  tribune, 
helps  Italians,  196;  assassinated, 
197 

Duilius,  Gains,  consul,  victor  at 
Mylse,  91 

Dyarchy,  411 

Eastern  Empire,  worth  of,  449 

Ecno'mus.  battle  near,  92 

Edict,  of  provincial  governor,  174; 

of  emperor,  266,  384 
Education,  153 
Egbert,  king  of  England,  447 
Ege'ria,  nymph,  19 
Egypt,    343  ;    taken   by  Moslems, 

472 
Elagab'alus,  emperor,  381 
Elections,  171 
Elephants  in    war,    70,  72,  89,  92, 

115,  122 
Emperor,  power  of,  266 
Empire,  see  Rofnan  Empire 
Ennius,  poet,  150 
Epictetus,  the  Stoic,  358 
Epicureans,  358 


Equestrian  order,  161  ;  see  Knighls 

Equites,  74  ;  see  Knights 

Ergastula,  164 

Eryx,  Mt.,  95 

Etruria,  7 

Etruscans,  early  civilization,  8-1 1 ; 

wars  with  Rome,  59;    in  Social 

War,  198 
Euge'nius,  emperor,  419 
Euhemerus,  150 
Eume'nes,  king  of  Pergamum,  123. 

127,  130 
Eu'nus,  leader  of  slave  revolt,  142 
Euric,  Visigoth  king,  442 

P'abii,  legend  of,  59 

Fabius,  Ambustus,  61 

Fabius     Maximus,     "Cunctator," 

107  . 
Fabricius,  simplicity  of,  154 
Fall  of  Rome,  430*  causes  of,  432- 

439 
Fasces,  30 
Fetiales,  40 
Fever,  goddess,  13 
Fimbria,  207 

f  ire  at  Rome  under  Nero,  304 
Flamens,  39 

Flaminius,  Gains,  general,  105 
Flamininus,    L.    Quintus,     consul, 

121,  151 
Flavians,  the,  320 
Food,  of  the  Romans,  146 
Forum,   site   of,  25  ;    of  Caesar,  of 

Augustus,  of  Trajan,  346 
Franks,    first   settlement   in   Gaul, 

389?    443 ;    conversion   of,  443  ; 

importance  of,  477 
Freedmen,  in  administration,  300 
Fulvia,  256 
Funeral  customs,  160 
Furius,   Camillus,    dictator,    takes 

Veii,  59  ;   ransoms  Rome  by  the 

sword,  63 

Gai'seric,  429 

Gains,  grandson  of  Augustus,  265 
Gains  Caesar,  see  Caligula 
Galba,  emperor,  310,  311 
Galba,  general,  in  Spain,  138 
Galen,  358 


520 


INDEX. 


Gale'rius,  emperor,  391,  397 

(jallia  Cisalpina,  12;  conquered. 
96 

Gallia  Narbonensis,  142 

Gallus,  emperor,  386 

Gallus,  poet,  357 

Gaul,  subdued  by  Coesar,  233-242; 
Romanization  of,  242;  assembly 
of,  at  Lugdunum,  274 

Gauls,  "n  northern  Italy,  11  \  be- 
siege Clusium,  61 ;  victory  at 
AUia,  61 ;  besiege  Capitol,  61 ; 
war  with,  in  third  century  B.C., 
63;  in  time  of  Caesar,  232 

Gens,  22;  plebeian,  46 

Germanicus,  nephew  of  Tiberius, 
276 

Germans,  see  Barbarians 

Gladiators,  revolt  of,  216;  exhibi- 
tions of,  354 

Glaucia,  195 

Gods  of  Rome,  36 

Golden  House,  305 

Gordian,  386 

Goths,  389;  eastern,  see  Ostro- 
goths; western,  see  Visigoths 

Gracchan  constitution,  184 

Gracchus,  Gains,  birth,  character, 
183;  work,  184;   death,  185 

Gracchus,  Tiberius,  177;  death  of, 
181 

Grain,  distribution  of,  184,  195, 
250,  269 

Gratian,  emporor,  414 

Greece,  conquest  of,  135 

Greek,  language,  use  of,  151  ;  re- 
ligion at  Rome,  148 

Greeks  in  South  Italy,  6;  in  Social 
War,  198 

Gregory,  pope,  464 

Hadria,  colony,  68 

Hadrian,  emperor,  330;  abandons 
Trajan's  conquests,  331;  mauso- 
leum of,  346 

Hamilcar,  Barca,  Carthaginian 
general,  95,  99 

Hannibal,  youth,  99;  attacks  Sa- 
guntum,  loo;  crosses  Rhone, 
loi;  crosses  Alps,  102;  in  Italy, 
103;    at  Cannae,  107;   at  Zama, 


114;  at  court  of  Antiochus,  123; 
with  Perseus,  126;  death  of, 
126 

Hanno,  Carthaginian  general,  108 

Harus'pices,  42 

Has'drubal,  brother  of  Hannibal, 
loi,  id8;  death  of,  1 12 

Has'drubal,  son-in-law  of  Hamil- 
car, 99 

Hasdrubal,   in  Third  Punic  War, 

134   . 

I  J  as  tat  I,  77 

Hegira  (he'jira),  the  flight  of  Mo- 
hammed, 469 

Hellenism  at  Rome,  144 

Helvetians,  234 

Heracle'a,  battle  of,  70 

Her'acles,  see  Hercules 

Her'a'clius,  eastern  emperor.  456 

Pleralds,  college  of,  see  J"  ft  tales 

Hercula'neum,  destroyed,  322 

Hercules,  43 

Hernicans,  5 

Heruli,  German  tribe,  430 

Hi'ero,  king  of  Syracuse,  88 

Hippodrome,  of  Constantinople, 
riot  in,  451 

Hirpi'ni,  5 

Hono'ri'us,  emperor,  421 

Horace,  poet,  282 

Hora'tii,  legend  of,  19 

Horatius  Codes,  legend  of,  57 

Hortensius.  orator,  defends  Verres, 
219 

Hostilius,  Tullus,  king,  19 

House,  Roman,  144;  later,  350. 

Huns,  attack  Goths,  415 ;  defeated 
at  Chalons,  427;  invade  Italy, 
427 

lapyg'ians,  6 

Iberians,  136 

Iconoclastic  controversy,  463,  478 

Illyria,  6 

Illyrian  pirates,  120 

Images,  of  those  who  held  office, 

160 
J??iperator,  262,  266 
Imperiuni,  29,  31,  173 
Institutes  of  Justinian,  454 
Insubres,  Gallic  tribe,  96,  117 


INDEX. 


521 


Intermarriage  of  patricians  and 
plebeians,  52 

Intervention,  48 

Ionian  Sea,  3 

Irene,  empress,  482 

Islam,  see  Mohanmiedanism 

Italia,  or  Italy,  meaning  of,  i;  de- 
scription of,  I -3 

Italian,  allies,  before  Social  War, 
q.  v.,  196;  revolt  of,  196 

Ital'ica,  see  Corfinium 

Janic'ulum,  20 

Janus,  deity,  36;  temple  of,  19 

Jerusalem,  taken  by  Pompey,  225 ; 
by  Titus,  318;  colony  at,  335; 
Julian  attempts  to  restore  tem- 
ple, 413 ;  taken  by  Mohammed- 
an, 471 

Jesus  Christ,  362 

Jews,  revolt  of,  315 

Jovian,  emperor,  413 

Jugur'tha,  war  with,  189;  death  of, 
192 

Julia,  daughter  of  Augustus,  264 

Julian,  the  Apostate,  reign,  412 

Julia'nus,  Didius,  buys  empire,  376 

Junius  Pullus,  L.,  consul,  95 

Juno,  36 

Jupiter,  Latiaris,  14;  Stator,  18; 
Capitolinus,  24;  Maximus,  36 

Jurists,  383 

Justinian,  emperor,  450;  recovers 
Africa,  452;  recovers  Italy,  452; 
code  of,  454 

Juvenal,  poet,  358 

Kaaba,  at  Mecca,  468 

Kings,  Roman,  early  power  of,  23 

Knights,    in    early   army,    74;    as 

collectors,    162;   in  courts,   184; 

in  administration,  341 
Koran,  the,  470 

Labarum,   Christian    standard,  of 

Constantine,  399 
Lacinium,  promontory,  69 
Lae'lius,  Gaius,  114 
Liber,  37 
Lands,  public,    monopolization  of, 

178;  see  Agrarian  Laws 


Lares,  cult  of,  37,  41 

Latin  colonies,  see  Colonies 

Latin  P'estival,  14 

Latin  League,  14 

Latin  rights,  84 

Latins,  13;  submissitm  of,  64 

Latium,  12;  conquest  of,  56 

Lato'na,  43 

Laiidationes    35 

Law,  Twelve  Tables,  49 ;  under 
Justinian,  454;  Canuleian,  52  ; 
Licinian,  53 

Legion,  74,  76 

Leo  the  Great,  pope,  turns  back 
Attila,  427;  intercedes  with  Gai- 
seric,  428 

Lepidus,  Marcus  ^milius,  revolt, 
214 

Lepidus,  Marcus  ^milius,  trium- 
vir, 253 

Liber,  37 

Libri  Lintei,  35 

Libyans,  87 

Licinian  laws,  52 

Licinius,  emperor,  397 

Licinius  Gaius,  tribune,  53 

Lictors,  Etruscan,  8;  of  consuls,  30; 
of  dictator,  31 

Liguria,  Ligurians,  12,  87;  con- 
quest of,  136 

Lipariae  Islands,  91 

Literature,  early,  151;  Augustan, 
280;  of  first  and  second  centuries 
AD.,  356 

Livy,  historian,  34,  282 

Lombards,  enter  Italy,  446;  con- 
quered by  Pranks,  447,  480 

London,  307 

Lucan.  poet,  357 

Lucanians,  early,  5 ;  join  Hanni- 
bal, m 

Luceres,    early  Roman    tribe,   23, 

n-  3 

Lucius,  grandson  of  Augustus,  265 

Lucretia,  legend  of,  27 

Lucre'tius,  legend  of,  27 

Lucretius,  poet,  280 

Lucullus,  Lucius  Licinus,  lieuten- 
ant of  Sulla,  220,  221 

Lucumons,  Etruscan  nobles,  8 

Luperca'lia,  40 


522 


INDEX. 


Lupercals,  40 
Lusitania,  216 
Lusitanians,  138 
Lustraiio,  168 
Luxury,  Roman,  154 

Macedonia,  120;  end  of  kingdom, 
128 

Macedonian  War,  First,  120;  Sec- 
ond, 121;  Third,  127 

Macrinus,  emperor,  381 

Maece'nas,  patron  of  literature,  282 

Magistrates,  160 ;  order  of  holding 
office,  172;  under  empire,  267 

Magna  Groecia,  6 

Magnesia,  battle  of,  125 

Mago,  114 

Mahar'bal,    Carthaginian  general, 

105 

Mamertine  dungeon,  see  Tulha- 
num 

Mamertines,  88 

Manci'nus,  general,  in  Spain,  139 

Manes,  41 

Manilian  Law,  223 

Maniple,  77 

Manlius,  Marcus,  defender  of  Cap- 
itol, 62;  death  of,  63 

Manlius,  Titus,  consul,  82 

Mantua,  9 

Mantus,  Etruscan  god,  9 

Marcel'lus,  Marcus  Claudius,  gen- 
eral, 112 

Marcoman'ni,  275 ;  in  time  of  M. 
Aurelius,  3/0,   360 

Maremma,  7' 

Marius,  Gains,  189;  in  Jugurthine 
War,  189;  destroys  Cimbri,  194; 
and  Teutons,  193;  reorganizes 
army,  193;  in  Social  War,  199; 
rival  of  Sulla,  203;  exile,  204; 
seventh  consulship,  207;  death, 
207 

Marriage,  intermarriage  of  patri- 
cians  and  plebeians,  legalized, 
52;  change  in  form  of,  156 

Mars,  36 

Marsians,  5;  in  Social  War,  196 

Martial,  poet,  357 

Massinis'sa,  king  of  Numidij,  114 

Massilia,  ally  of  Rome,  141 


Master  of  the  horse,  31 

Maxentius,  397 

Maximian,  emperor,  391,  396,  397 

Maximinus,  emperor,  385 

Mayors  of  the  Palace,  477 

Mecca,  468,  469 

Medi'na,  469 

Mediola'num,  96 

Memmius,  tribune,  I90 

Merovingians,     kings    of    Franks, 

444,  477 
Mesopota  mia,  330 
Messi'na,  in  Punic  War,  88 
Mercury.,  37 

Metau'rus  River,  battle  of,  115 
Metel'Ius,  L.  Csecilius,  consul,  93 
Metellus,  Quintus  Caecilius,  139 
Metellus,   Quintus  Caecilius  Numi- 

dicus,  190 
Metellus,    Quintus   Caecilius    Pius, 

general,  216 
Mettius  Fuffetius,  20 
Migration  of  German  tribes,  421 
Milan,  97 
Military  roads,  84 
Milo,  tribune,  238 
Milvian  Bridge,  battle  at,  397.  399 
Minerva,  36 
Mithra,  worship  of,  393 
Mithridates,   king   of  Pontus,  200 ; 

massacres     Italians,     203;      see 

Mithridatic  Wars 
Mithridatic      Wars,      First,      204; 

Second,  220;  Third,  224 
Mo'dena,  colony,  118 
Moe'sia,  province,  273 
Mohammed,  468 
Mohammedanism,    467;    teaching, 

470 ;   progress  of,  47 1 ;   good  of, 

473 

Monasticism,  465 

Money,  early  Roman,  22;  later, 
circulation,  161 

Mosquitoes,  as  carriers  of  malaria, 
13,  n.  I 

Mummius,  Lucius,  destroys  Co- 
rinth, 135 

Munda,  battle  of.  249 

Municipal  system,under  empire,342 

Mus,  see  Dechis 

Mylae,  naval  battle  near,  91 


INDEX. 


523 


Naples,  7 

Narlxjnen'sis,  see  Gallia 

Narcissus,  freedman  of  Claudiuc, 
300 

Narses,  general,  453 

Nasica,  see  Scipio 

Neapolis,  see  Naples 

Neptune,  36 

Nero,  emperor,  293,  302,  306; 
reign,  death,  31 1;  Golden  House 
of,  345 ;  persecution  by,  365 

Nerva,  emperor,  326 

Nervii,  236 

Next4s,  45 

Nicaea,  Council  of,  400 

Nimes,    Roman  remains    at,    349, 

350 
Nobility,  Roman,  160 
Noricum,  Cimbri  in,  192,  273 
Numa,  king  of  Rome,  19 
Numan'tia,  139 
Numantian  War,  139 
Nu  mitor,  17 

Octaviiis,  Gaius,  heir  of  Julius 
Caesar;  254;  in  Second  Triumvi- 
rate, 255;  governs  the  west,  258; 
at  Actium,  260;  in  sole  con- 
trol, 261 ;  government  of,  263; 
death  of,  265,  buildings  of,  285 

Octavius  Marcus,  tribune,  180 

Odenathus,  387 

Odoa'cer,  430 

Op'ici,  7 

Optima  tes,  188 

Orcho'menus,  206 

Orcus,  37 

Ores'tes,  430 

Ostia,  harbor,  20,  349 

Ostrogoths,  in  Italy,  444;  con- 
quered by  Belisarius,  446 

Otho,  emperor,  310,  311 

Ovid,  poet,  282 

Paganism,  restored  by  Julian,  412; 

abolished  at  Rome,  419 
Pal'atine  Hill,  15 
Palaeopolis,  66 
Palladium,  41 

Pallas,  freedman  of  Claudius,  300 
Palmyra,  387,  390 


Panormus,  battle  of,  93 

Pantheon,  285 

Pantomime,  353 

Papacy,  ribe  of,  402  ;  growth  of, 
460;   temporal  power  of,  479 

Papin'ian,  jurist,  384 

Papir'ius,  dictator,  82 

Papius  Mutilus,  198 

Parma,  colony,  118 

Parthians,  defeat  Crassus,  242; 
attacked  by  Trajan,  329;  by 
Verus,  337;    take  Valerian,  387 

Paterfamilias,  power  of,  49 

Patres,  heads  of  gentes,  22;  sena- 
tors, 23 

Patria  potestas,  power  of  father,  49 

Patricians,  early,  22 

Patron,  22 

Paul,  apostle,  364 

Paulus,  Lucius  ^milius,  consul, 
108 

Paulus,  Lucius  ^milius,  victor  at 
Pydna,  127;  triumph  of,  129; 
library  of,  151 

Peasantry,  ruin  of,  178 

Pedani,  1 70 

Peirse'us,  siege  of,  by  Sulla,  205 

Penates,  household  gods,  145 

Pergamum   kingdom  of,  123 

Persecution,  see  Christianity 

Perseus,  king  of  Macedonia,  126; 
war  with,  127 

Persian  empire,  new,  456 

Per'tinax,  emperor,  375 

Pescennius  Niger,  376 

Pestilence,  in  time  of  Marcus  Au- 
relius,  360 

Peter,  apostle,  at  Rome,  365,  462 

Phar'naces,  defeated  by  Caesar,  248 

Pharsalus,  battle  of,  246 

Philip,  emperor,  386 

Philip,  of  Macedonia,  allied  with 
Hannibal,  120;  first  Macedo- 
nian war,  120 ;  second  Macedo- 
nian war,  121 

Philip'pi,  battle  at,  256 

Philosophy,  358 

Picen'tines,  5 

Pictor,  Fabius,  historian,  34,  251 

Pippin,  king  of  Franks,  478;  do- 
nation of,  479 


524 


INDEX. 


Piracy,  222 

Pirates  of  Mediterranean,  put  down 
by  Pompey,  222 

Placen'tia,  colony,  119 

Plautus,  dramatist,  151 

Plebeian  assembly,  see  Consilium 
plebis 

Plebeians,  origin,  23;  early  status, 
45;  secession  of,  46;  permitted 
to  marry  patricians,  51;  ad- 
mitted to  consulship,  52;  full 
citizenship  granted  to,  54;  in 
later  republic,  162;  urban,  162 

Plebiscita,  34 

Plebs  see  Plebeians 

Pliny  the  Younger,  letter  to  Tra- 
jan, 358,  367 

Plutarch,  historian,  358 

Po  River,  valley  of,  i,  n.  i;  Etrus- 
can cities  in  valley  of,  9;  Gauls 
in,  12,  60 

Pollen'tia,  battle  at,  423 

Polyb'ius,  historian,  34;   at  Rome, 

131 

Pompe'dius  Silo,  198 
Pompe'ii,  destruction  of.  322 
Pompeius,    general  in   Numantian 

War,  139 
Pompey,     or    Pompeius,     Gnaeus, 

joins  Sulla,  214;  in   Spain,  216; 

suppresses    gladiators,    218;    in 

First  Triumvirate,  231;  conquers 

Syria,  224;    suppresses    pirates, 

222;     fights    Mithridates,     224; 

civil     war    virith    Caesar,     224; 

death,  247 
Pompey,  Gnseus,  son  of  preceding, 

249 
Pompey,  Sextus,  257 
Pons  sublicius.  wooden  bridge  over 

Tiber,  20,  24 
Pontifex  maximus,4i 
Pontiffs,  41 
Pontius  Gavius,  Samnite    general, 

66 
Pontus,  224 
Popes,  see  Papacy 
Popilius  Laenas,  130,  139 
Poplicola,  see  Publius  Valerius 
Poppaea,  wife  of  Nero,  303 
Popular es^  195,  2io,  218 


Population,  decline  of,  in  later  em- 
pire, 434 

Populus^   22 

Porsen'na,  Etruscan  king,  57 

Praenes'te,  209 

Prtetexla,  colored  toga  of  a  magis- 
trate, 160 

Praetorian  guard,  origin,  269; 
power  of,   299;    control    empire, 

373 
Praetors,  first  name  of  consuls,  28; 

origin  of  office,  53 
Prefect,  of  city,  270,  391 ;  praetorian, 

294 
Prefectures,  408 
Priests,    39;    colleges    of,    40,    41 ; 

secular  character  ©f,  44 
Princeps^  266 
Principes,  soldiers,  77 
Probus,  emperor,  390 
Proconsuls,  governors  of  provinces, 

173 
Propertius,  poet,  282 
Propraetors,   as   provincial    magis- 

trates,  173 
Proscriptions,    of    Sulla,    209;     of 

triumvirs,  256 
Provinces,   first    Roman,   96,    171 ; 

government    of,     173;     lists     of 

imperial,    270 ;    senatorial,    270 ; 

under  the  Antonines,  341 ;  under 

Diocletian,  391 ;  under  Constan- 

tine,  407 
Provincial  system,  173 
Pru'sias,  126,  130 
Ptolemy,  geographer,  358 
Public  Assemblies,  see  Comitia 
Public    lands,     161 ;     at    time    of 

Gracchi,  179 
Publicans,    161;     exactions  of,    in 

Asia,  201,  220 
Punic  Wars,  First,  86-98;  Second, 

99-120;  Third,  133-135 
Pydna,  battle  of,  127 
Pyrrhus,     assists     Tarentum,     69; 

war  with,  70;  defeat  of,  72 

Quaestors,  172 

Quinqueremes,   built  by   Romans, 

90 
Quintilian,  rhetorician,  357 


INDEX. 


525 


Quirinus,  name  of  Romulus,  19 
Quirites,  32 

Radagai'sus,  423 

Ram'nes,  23,  n.  3 

Raven'na,  9;   exarchate  of,  453 

Regil'lus,  Lake,  battle  at,  56 

Regulus,  Atilius,  general,  92;  at 
Carthage,  93;  death,  93 

Religion,  Roman,  early,  36-44; 
chief  deities,  36;  character  of, 
38;  priests,  39;  Greek  rites  in, 
43;  eastern,  in  Rome,  150;  weak- 
ness  of,  150 

Remus,  17,  18 

Representation,  hints  of,  in  Gallic 
assembly,  274 

Rescript.  384 

Res  publica,  early  use  of  term,  13 

Rhaetia,  province,  273 

Rhea  Sylvia,  17 

Rhodes,  120,  126;  loses  possessions, 

131 

Ric'imer,  430 

Roads,  military,  84,  286 

Roga'tor,  32 

Roma  quadra ta,  15 

Roman  colonies,  see  Colonies 

Roman  Empire,  organized  by 
Augustus,  263;  limits  of,  under 
him,  277;  extent  under  Trajan, 
327;  sale  of,  by  prsetorians,  376; 
division  of,  421;  fall  of  western 
empire,  429;  eastern  empire  con- 
tinues, 449 

Roman  people,  primitive,  21 

Romance  languages  and  peoples, 
476 

Rome,  foundation  of,  15;  early 
society  and  government,  21, 
under  kings,  15-27;  growth,  24; 
three  tribes  of,  23,  n.  3 ;  sacked 
by  Gauls,  62;  rebuilt,  63;  admin- 
istration, under  empire,  268; 
ransom  from  Alaric,  424;  sacked 
by  Alaric,  424;  by  Vandals,  429; 
effect  of  fall,  439 

Romulus,  king  of  Rome,  legend  of, 
16 

Romulus  Augustulus,  last  emperor 
of  west,  430 


Rostrum,  origin  of  name,  171 
Roumania,  328 
Rubicon  River,  245 

Sabellians,  4 

Sabines,  country  of,  4;  rape  of,  18; 
union  of,  with  Rome,  18 

Sacred  colleges,  39 

Sacred  Mount,  secession  to,  46 

Sacred  Spring,  4 

Sacrifices,  38 

Saguntum,  taken  by  Hannibal,  100 

Sa'lii,  40 

Sallust,  historian,  281 

Salona,  392 

Samnite  War,  First,  66;  Second. 
66;  Third,  67 

Samnites,  early,  5;  join  Hannibal, 
III;  in  Social  War,  197;  attack 
Rome,  209 

Samnium,  5 

Sapor,  king  of  Persia,  387 

Sardinia,  province,  96 

Saturn,  36 

Satuminus,  195 

Saxons,  conversion  of,  465;  con- 
quest of,  by  Charles  the  Great, 

479 
Scae'vola,  Mucius,  legend  of,  57 
Scandinavians,  447 
Schools,  357 
Scipio,  I^ucius  Cornelius,  Barbatus, 

68 
Scipio,  Lucius  Cornelius,    (Asiati- 

cus),  124 
Scpio,    Publius     Cornelius,    fights 

Hannibal,  102-104 
Scipio,  Publius   Cornelius  (Africa- 

nus    Major)    in    Spain,    114;    at 

Zama,  114,  115 
Scipio,  Publius  Cornelius  ^milia- 

nus   (Africanus  Minor),  at  Car- 
thage,   133;   at  Numantia,    140; 

opposes  Gracchus,  182 
Scipio,  Publius  Cornelius,  Nasica, 

182 
Seja'nus,  prefect,  294 
Seleucia,  329 
Sella  curulis,  Etruscan   origin  of, 

21;   seat  of  consul,  30;  of  other 

magistrates,  160 


526 


INDEX. 


Sempronius,  104 

Sempronius  Tiberius,  137 

Sena  Gallica,  colony,  69 

Senate,  Roman^  under  kings,  23; 
growing  power  of,  33;  in  sea^nd 
century,  169;  under  the  empire, 
267,  341.  404,  n.  I 

Senate  of  Constantinople,  404 

Senatus  consulhtm,  170 

Sen'eca,  moralist,  357 

Seneca,  rhetorician.  357 

Sen'ones,  Gallic  tribe,  61 

Senti'num,  battle  of,  68 

Sequani,  234 

Sertorius,  Quintus,  revolt  of,  in 
Spain,  215 

Servian  reforms,  32 

Servile  War,  First,  142;  Second, 
218 

Servius  TuUius,  king  of  Rome,  21; 
reforms  of,  21 

Seve'rus,  Alexander,  emperor,  382 

Severus  Septimius,  emperor,  376 

Sib'ylline  books,  43 

Sicily,  at  time  of  First  Punic  War, 
88;  first  province,  96;  slave  re- 
volt in,  142;  Verres  in,  218 

Silius,  poet,  357 

Silk  culture,  introduction  of,  453 

Slaves,  first  revolt  of,  142;  in  later 
republic,  163;  second  revolt  of, 
218 

Social  War,  causes  of,  196;  results 
of,  199 

Socii,  76,  196 

Soissons,  battle  of,  443 

Soldiers,  enlistment,  75;  pay. and 
booty,  81 ;  discipline  of,  81 ;  in- 
creased pay,  324 

Soothsayers,  Etruscan,  10 

Spain,  Hannibal  in,  100 ;  conquests 
in,  136;  Numantian  War,  139; 
Vandals  in,  426;  Visigoths  in, 
442;  conquered  by  Saracens, 
472;  Charles  the  Great  in,  480 

Spalatro,  392,  n.  i. 

Spar'tacus,   gladiator,  216 

Stil'icho,  Vandal  general,  defeats 
Goths,  423 

Stoicism,  358 

Sueto'nius,  358 


Suevi,  423  '        ' 

vSul'fetes,  magistrates   at  Carthage, 

87 

Sulla,  L.  Cornelius,  in  Jugurthine 
War,  191;  in  Social  War,  199; 
war  with  Mithridates,  203;  at- 
tacks Rome,  203;  campaigns, 
207;  returns  to  Italy,  208;  war 
with  Marius,  208;  proscriptions, 
209,  dictator,  210;  constitution, 
211;  abdication  and  death,  212 

Suovetatiriiia,  168 

Syagrius,  governor,  443 

Syb'aris,  Grcvrk  colony,  6 

Syracuse,  Greek  colony,  88;  ally 
of  Carthage,  89;  fall,  iii 

Syria.  120,  123 

Tacitus,  emperor,  390 

Tacitus,  historian,  358 

Tages,  Etruscan  god,  10 

Tan'aquil,  wife  of  Tarquin,  21 

Taren'tum,  Greek  colony,  6;  cap- 
ture of,  72 

Tarpe'ia,  18 

Tarpeian  Rock,  16 

Tarquin'ii,  Etruscan  city,  21 

Tarquinius  Collatinus,  21 

Tarquinius  Priscus,  king  of  Rome, 
21 

Tarquinius  Superbus,  Lucius,  king 
of  Rome,  21,  27;  expelled,  27 

Tatius,  Sabine  king,  19 

Taxation,  161,  174;  increase  in 
later  empire,  408,  414,  436 

Temple,  of  Jupiter  Capitolinus,  16, 
24,  36;  Janus,  16,  19;  Quirinus, 
16;  Vesta,  16;  Jupiter  Stator,  18; 
Saturn,  19,  at  Jerusalem,  225 

Terence,  dramatist,  151 

Tertullian,  church  father,  365 

Teutons,  see  Barbarians;  Marius 
crushes,  193 

Thapsus,  battle  of,  248 

Theatres,  Roman,  353 

Theodora,  wife  of  Justiiiian,  451 

Theo'doric,  king  of  the  Ostrogoths, 

444 
Theodosius,  L,  the  Great,  emperor, 
416;  reduces  Goths.  417;  orders 
massacre  at  Thessalonica,  418; 


INDEX. 


527 


penance  of,  418;  suppresses  pa- 
ganism, 419;  divides  empire, 
421 

ThermcE^  see  Baths 

Thessaly,  121 

Thessaloni'ca,  massacre  at,  418 

Thirty  Tyrants,  387 

Tiber  River,  12 

Tiberius,  emperor,  early  life,  264; 
in  Germany,  275;  rule  of,  289; 
provinces  under,  292;  last  years 
of,  293;  character  of,  294 

Tibul'lus,  poet,  282 

Tibur,  336 

Tici'nus,  battle  of  the,  103 

Tigra'nes,  war  against,  221 

Timse'us,  historian,  34 

Tities,  tribe  of  early  Rome,  23,  n.  3 

Titus,  emperor,  321 ;  siege  of  Jeru- 
salem, 318;  arch  of,  345 

Tivoli,  see  Tibur 

Toga,  the,  145 

Tours,  battle  near,  473 

Trajan,  emperor,  reign,  326;  cam- 
paigns in  Dacia,  327;  in  Par- 
thia,  329;  treatment  of  Chris- 
tians, 365  ;  column  of,  328 

Trasumenus,  Lake,  battle  at,  105 

Treason,  law  of  majestas^  under 
Titerius,  293 

Treasuries,  under  empire,  272 

Tre'bia,  battle  of,  104 

Triarii^  77 

Tribes,  early,  23,  n.  3;  under  Ser- 
vius,  21 

Tribunes,  military,  75 

Tribunes,  military,  with  consular 
power,  52 

Tribunes,  plebeian,  creation  of 
office,  47;  number,  47;  powers, 
47;  inviolability,  47;  extension 
of  powers,  48;  admitted  to  sen- 
ate, 48;  power  reduced  by  Sulla, 
209 

Tribuntian  power  of  emperor,  266 

Tributum,  war  tax,  abolished  at 
Rome,  130 

Triumph,  description  of,  83;  last 
at  Rome,  423 

Triumvirate,  First,  231;  Second, 
255 


Trogus    Pompeius,   historian,  357 
Truceless  War,  96 
Tuculcha,  Etruscan  god,  10 
Tullia,  daughter  of  Servius  Tullius, 

21 
TuUianum.  227 
TuUus  Hostilius,   king   of    Rome, 

19 
Tuscans,  8 

Twelve  Tables,  laws  of,  49 
Tyrol,  8 
Tyrrhenians,  8 

Ulpian,  jurist,  384 
Umbria,    Umbrians,   4;    in   Social 
War,  198 

Vadimon  Lake,  69 

Valens,  emperor,  413;  receives 
Visigoths  into  empire,  415; 
death,  416 

Valentinian,  emperor,  413 

Valerian,  emperor,  387 

Valerian  Law,  48 

Valerius,  Flaccus,  Lucius,  consul, 
207 

Vandals,  424;  in  Spain,  426;  in 
Africa,  442;  sack  Rc^me,  429; 
put  down  by  Justinian,  452 

Varro,  writer,  281 

Varro,  Gains  Terentius,  consul,  at 
Cannae,  108 

Varus,  Quintilius,  defeat  of,  by 
Germans,  275 

Veii,  Etruscan  city,  taken  by  Ro- 
mans, 59 

Veli'tes,  74,  77 

Ven'eti,  12,  236 

Venice,  l>eginnings  of,  428 

Venus,  36 

Verceriee.  battle  at,  194 

Vercinget'orix.  240 

Vergil,  poet,  271 

Vero'na,  battle  at,  423 

Verres,  218 

Verus,  Lucius,  colleague  of  Mar- 
cus Aurelius.  337 

Vespasian,  Flavius.  emperor,  313, 
320 

Vesta,  36;  temple  of,  170 

Vestals,  40 


528 


INDEX. 


Vesti'ni,  5 

Vesuvius,  eruption  of,  322 

Veto,  of  tribunes,  48 

Via  ALmilia,  118 

Via  Appia,  85 

Via  Sceierata,  21,  n.  I 

"N^ctory,  statue  of,  removed,  419 

Vindex,  310 

Virginia,  legend  of,  51 

Viria'thus,  Spanish  chief,  138 

Visigoths,  cross  Danube,  415 ;  re- 
volt, subdued  by  Theodosius, 
416;  invade  Italy,  423;  in  Spain, 
426,  442 

Vitellius,  emperor,  312 


Volscians,  war  with,  58;  subdued, 
64 

Volsin'ii,  Etruscan  city,  73 
Voting,  manner  of,  17 1 
Vulcan,  36,  149 

Woman,  position  of,  in  Rome,  155 

Xanthip'pus,  aids  Carthage,  92 

York,  309 

Zama,  battle  of,  114 
Zenobia,  390 
Zeus,  149 


14  DAY  USE 

RETURN  TO  DESK  FROM  WHICH  BORROWED 

LOAN  DEPT. 

This  book  is  due  on  the  last  date  stamped  below, 
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